1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,240 Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,400 County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,720 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,320 You realize, like I've answered like the majority of those 6 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,880 things, but you're still asking me and I've already done it. 7 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,840 I mean, do you have any capacity to pray outside your comfort 8 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,800 zone, to pray for people that you don't know or situations 9 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:51,440 that you're normally not interested in? 10 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,600 You have the heart to let me put my heart in there to expand your 11 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,920 awareness of what it is I specifically want you to pray 12 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:03,000 about right now, at this time and this day and this age. 13 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,840 What does your prayer life look like? 14 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,600 If you're like most people, you might try to find a quiet time, 15 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,880 and then you begin to share your laundry list of wants with God 16 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,880 as if He were some sort of genie in a bottle that grants wishes. 17 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:21,040 Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with asking God 18 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,480 for things, but that can't be the majority of our conversation 19 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,360 with Him. Notice I used the word 20 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,600 conversation. That's what prayer should be, 21 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,600 conversation between you and Jesus. 22 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:40,000 Pastor Clark challenges us today to expand our prayer life to be 23 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:41,960 more than just talking and asking. 24 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,200 Now. Here's Pastor Clark in 25 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:48,040 Revelation Chapter 8 with today's edition of Living Waters 26 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,600 of Grace. Verse 1 of chapter 8, when he 27 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,520 opened the 7th seal, there was silence in heaven for about 1/2 28 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,480 an hour, and I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and 29 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:01,640 to them who were given 7 trumpets. 30 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,600 Then another Angel having a golden censer, came and stood at 31 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,639 the altar. He was given much incense that 32 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,520 he should offer it with the prayers of all the Saints upon 33 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,760 the golden altar which was before the throne, and the smoke 34 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,560 of the incense with the prayers of the Saints ascended before 35 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:25,120 God from the angel's hand. Then the Angel took the censer, 36 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,600 filled it with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth. 37 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,960 And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings and 38 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,080 earthquakes. And so the seven angels who had 39 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,520 the seven trumpets prepared themselves the sound. 40 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:44,640 It's interesting, you know, in heaven there is no concept of 41 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:46,280 time. Time is eternal. 42 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,840 And yet John was able to distinguish in some sense, the 43 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,080 difference between the two dimensions of time, of Kairos 44 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,240 and Chiron. And we have, of course, in the 45 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,160 languages that we communicate in two different understandings of 46 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,600 time. We have human time, which is 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:05,560 right now. And, and that's the way we 48 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:07,800 think. We segment everything right by 49 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,680 seconds and minutes and hours and days and weeks and months 50 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:13,280 and years. You know, that's just how we're 51 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,680 wired. But in heaven, there is no sense 52 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,160 of time. The way we see it, it's time is 53 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,480 eternal. The Word tells us that Christ is 54 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,200 the Alpha and Omega, the 1st and the last, the beginning and the 55 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,880 end. And so in eternal thinking, 56 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,480 there is no sequence of of days and nights. 57 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,400 It's just forever and ever and ever. 58 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,920 And how do you measure Infinity and eternity that lasts forever? 59 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:43,160 It's just beyond our ability to even conceptualize. 60 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:49,520 But John was able to, being human still and not ascended in 61 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,960 the sense of leaving this life, still, being earthbound, and yet 62 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:54,480 having a heavenly, heavenly vision. 63 00:03:54,480 --> 00:04:00,920 He was able to understand the time that was transpiring during 64 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:02,640 this vision that God had given him. 65 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,200 And it says that the silence was unlike anything that I think 66 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,680 heaven has ever experienced because we know before the 67 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,960 throne of God, the four and 20 elders are continually throwing 68 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,560 their Thrones before their crowns before the throne, saying 69 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,959 holy, holy, holy art thou, O God, who was and is and is to 70 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:25,520 come the the voices of the angelic beings worshipping God. 71 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,080 I mean, it's, it's a lot. It says it's like the the voice 72 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,680 of many waters. You, you, you just hear the 73 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,160 crowd. And it's like a sound that is 74 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,640 unknown even to us on this earth, as many people that might 75 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,000 gather at any given time to worship Heaven's worship is, is 76 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,920 completely unlike anything that any of us have ever touched or 77 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,480 experienced, believe me. And so it says that there's 78 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,680 silence in the midst of this period that John is about to 79 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:51,920 encounter. The sound is deafening. 80 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,640 The silence is deafening because what's about to transpire on the 81 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:01,960 face of the earth is horrendous, but also majestic in the sense 82 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:08,840 that as Christ has opened those seals for the first time in the 83 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:13,880 history of the universe, he has conveyed his full plan to all 84 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:18,000 the angelic hosts. And they're speechless. 85 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:24,240 They're astounded at what he has in store, not only in the sense 86 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,840 of his anger and his wrath toward an unbelieving and 87 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:31,200 ungodly world, but his plan for the future of his church, the 88 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,960 bride of Jesus Christ. So we see in verse one the 89 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,960 mention of silence. We see in verse 2 the mention of 90 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:43,200 musical instruments, trumpets. We see in verse 3 and 4 the 91 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:48,280 offering of incense. And what's interesting is I 92 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:50,360 don't know about you, but I've been in a lot of different kind 93 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,800 of worship situations. I've been in like really crazy 94 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,200 stuff where people are jumping around and running around and 95 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,440 just like doing all kind of wild stuff. 96 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,000 And I've been in real conservative type of worship 97 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,240 experiences. I've experienced liturgical 98 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:06,360 worship experiences, experience, obviously Calvary Chapel kind of 99 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:10,880 worship experiences, But as good as we might think our worship 100 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,120 is, and it is good, we have a godly worship leader and team. 101 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,240 These guys love the Lord and give their hearts to serve 102 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,280 Christ fully and worship every week. 103 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:26,000 But we fall short, don't we? We all fall short of 104 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,600 understanding what true worship is. 105 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,240 It's not an emotion or a high, although we can get kind of like 106 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,360 joy, obviously, when we think about the greatness of God and 107 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,720 worship him. But it's much deeper than that. 108 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:46,200 And so we're getting a glimpse into heaven now as Protestants 109 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,840 and as New Testament Christians, we have an interesting 110 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:53,360 perspective on how we look at the development of historical 111 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,080 worship from the age of the Tabernacle, right, in the temple 112 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,440 in the Old Testament, right? And we, we don't see any visible 113 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,160 temple or Tabernacle right now in our day and age, right? 114 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:08,000 But it's going to be rebuilt. The sacrifices will begin to 115 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,840 continue during that time of the Tribulation. 116 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,680 The Antichrist will set himself up in the temple as God, the 117 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,000 abomination, the desolation, and a lot of very, very interesting 118 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,160 things are going to occur. Even now in Israel. 119 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:24,280 There is plans for the structure to build the the robes are being 120 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,120 developed. The Sacramento aspect of how the 121 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,040 Jewish nation connected and worshiped with God will be 122 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,800 reinstituted. And but what I find fascinating 123 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,200 is, is that from God's perspective, that never ended, 124 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,960 right? It's still going on, even though 125 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,800 there is no physical temple or Tabernacle on the earth right 126 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,440 now in the sense of the way it was in Israel with the ark of 127 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:47,560 the covenant and that kind of stuff. 128 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:52,720 In heaven right now, there is this element of worship that 129 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,760 most of us have never, ever encountered, But one day we 130 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,440 will. And some people might say, I 131 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,560 don't like the smell of incense. Some people get sick, get 132 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,080 headaches when there's incense. But in heaven, the good news is 133 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,720 when we're there, we won't have the the same kind of physical 134 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,080 maladies. And incense will be awesome 135 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:13,520 because it's like the most fragrant of perfumes and it it 136 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,800 pleases God. He has it in his throne room 137 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:22,800 24/7 throughout all eternity. And the incense represents the 138 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:24,760 prayers of the Saints. We'll get into that in a minute. 139 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:30,080 But in the Tabernacle or in the temple, there was a golden 140 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,280 altar, different types of altars in the midst of the temple, the 141 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,720 Tabernacle. But this specific altar was 142 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:38,799 right before the veil entering into the Holy of Holies. 143 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,200 And the responsibility of the temple priest was to burn 144 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,000 incense because it represented the prayers of the nation of 145 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:51,680 Israel and in heaven. Now, as we read, as John is 146 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:56,640 teaching us, that this incense is representative of the prayers 147 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:01,160 of Saints, believers throughout the course of human history. 148 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,720 And so we see in verse one this silence. 149 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:08,760 Again, just going back to this half hour of silence, it's 150 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:13,720 dramatically indicating the profound awe at the opening of 151 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:18,080 the 7th seal. It's no wonder that the Sarah 152 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:21,640 from and Sheriff from can't help but to continually proclaim 153 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:26,160 holy, holy art thou, O God, If we were there, that's going to 154 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,040 be our description. What else can we say? 155 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:35,000 Holy, holy, holy art you, O God. And Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 156 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,880 20, it says, but the Lord is in his holy temple. 157 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,080 Let all the earth keep silence before him. 158 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:45,520 God enjoys silence. We don't. 159 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:47,120 We have to have noise all the time. 160 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:52,000 We always have to have some kind of media on iPod, TV, 161 00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:56,800 headphones, music. I mean, the more noise, the more 162 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,880 happy we seem to be at times. But you take a time of silence 163 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:02,880 and that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. 164 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:06,760 That's why prayer is so difficult at times, because it 165 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,120 is a time of silence and we're before God and it's just our 166 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,080 thoughts and our heart laid bare before Him. 167 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,080 And sometimes that makes us a little awkward because we're not 168 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:20,960 used to having silence. But God says that he's in His 169 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:24,040 holy temple and it's pleasing to him that the earth would be 170 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,920 silent before him. In Zephaniah chapter one, verse 171 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:32,720 7, it says be silent in presence of the Lord God for the day of 172 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,280 the Lord is at hand, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice 173 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,800 and he's invited his guests. Be silent in the presence of the 174 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:42,960 Lord. And again, it's something that 175 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:44,560 sometimes we're not accustomed to. 176 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:48,080 Or you get with some people and you're going to pray and this 177 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,720 person prays and that person's that person prays. 178 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,160 And then all of a sudden there's a period of silence and, and 179 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,040 sometimes people like restless, well, like who's going to pray 180 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,280 next? Or how long will the silence 181 00:10:58,280 --> 00:10:59,800 last? Does that mean we're done or is 182 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,560 it over? But I think from God's heart, 183 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:06,840 the silence represents just the beginning of our being open to 184 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,840 what it is that He wants to say to us, more so than what we 185 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:14,880 think we need to say to God. In Zechariah chapter 2, verse 186 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:19,360 13, it says be silent all flesh before the Lord, for he is 187 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:21,520 aroused from his holy habitation. 188 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,560 Be silent, all flesh before the Lord, the one that you're all 189 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:30,560 familiar with. Psalm 4610 Be still and know 190 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,720 that I am God. I will be exalted among the 191 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,760 nations. I will be exalted in the earth. 192 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,600 And I think it's, it's healthy at times when we come together 193 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,920 as as Christians and, and pray even on Thursdays, it isn't so 194 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,600 much what we're saying, it's what we're hearing, right? 195 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:49,760 Because so often our prayers are circular. 196 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:55,480 Lord bless me, mine, you know, me, myself and I or bless my 197 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,240 people or my family or my job or my finance. 198 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,080 I mean, sometimes our prayers are like really, really boring. 199 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,320 God hears, I mean, he loves us, He's merciful. 200 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,920 But like you realize you're saying the same thing all the 201 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:08,280 time. You realize, like I've answered 202 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:10,520 like the majority of those things, but you're still asking 203 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,000 me and I've already done it. I mean, do you have any capacity 204 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,640 to pray outside your comfort zone, to pray for people that 205 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:20,440 you don't know or situations that you're normally not 206 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,800 interested in? You have the heart to let me put 207 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:28,120 my heart in there to expand your awareness of what it is I 208 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:31,160 specifically want you to pray about right now at this time and 209 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:37,200 this day and this age. And verse 2 of Revelation 8, we 210 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,000 see these 7 angels. I saw 7 angels who stand before 211 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,720 God, and to them were given the seven trumpets. 212 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,320 These bodily powers that Victoria so beautifully sung 213 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:53,080 about represent the Old Testament priests who also 214 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,560 sounded the trumpets during the temple worship. 215 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:59,000 You know, sometimes when we read the New Testament and the Book 216 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,600 of Revelation and disconnect it from the roots of what worship 217 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:05,240 has been about since the beginning of time, we, we 218 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,560 unfortunately distort really what the meaning is or we, we 219 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:10,920 pull things unfortunately sometimes out of context. 220 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:15,280 But in Joshua chapter 6, verse 13, it refers to these guys. 221 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:18,880 It says the seven priests bearing 7 trumpets of Ram's 222 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:23,800 horns before the ark of the Lord went on and continually and blew 223 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,120 the trumpets. And you remember what happened 224 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,080 eventually as a result of blowing those trumpets, right? 225 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,560 The walls fell down, God moved miraculously. 226 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,560 First Chronicles chapter 16, verse 6. 227 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:40,160 Benanaya and Jehaziel, the priest regularly blew the 228 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,120 trumpets before the Ark of the Covenant of God. 229 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,040 Psalm 96, Six, honor and majesty are before him. 230 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,520 Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 231 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,600 So we see this view of heaven of of music, right? 232 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,080 Where's the guitars? Now there is stringed 233 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,280 instruments you'll read about in Revelation, but in this 234 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:05,040 instance, there's trumpets and verse 3. 235 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:06,560 This is when it gets interesting. 236 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,480 Then another Angel having a golden censor came and stood at 237 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,680 the altar. He was given much incense that 238 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:17,680 he should offer it with the prayers of all the Saints upon 239 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:20,760 the golden altar which was before the throne. 240 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:27,960 Much incense is present in heaven, much incense, and it's 241 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,280 offered along with the prayers of the Saints. 242 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:38,280 If you go back to chapter 5 of Revelation verse 8, it says now 243 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,440 when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and 244 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:45,520 the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and 245 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:50,280 golden bulls full of incense, which are the prayers of the 246 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,520 Saints. Psalm 141 two says, let my 247 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:59,120 prayer be set before you as incense, the lifting up of my 248 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:05,200 hands as the evening sacrifice. I mean the beauty of how God 249 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:09,080 designed worship for Himself. It's not about us. 250 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:11,240 We're given the privilege to worship Him. 251 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:15,960 But whenever we can worship Him the way He has orchestrated and 252 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,320 desired, what does that do to His heart? 253 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:21,840 Let my prayer be set before you. Psalm 141. 254 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:26,840 Two as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening 255 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,040 sacrifice. So we see in Revelation that 256 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:34,240 incense is the visible sign of the prayers of all the people. 257 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,760 Symbolism is important. The dove represents the Holy 258 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,080 Spirit. The cross represents the 259 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,640 crucifixion, the death of burial and resurrection of Christ. 260 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,320 Baptism. Immersion is a sign of dying to 261 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:52,480 our sin and coming out as new people, a new life. 262 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,640 The Lord's Supper that we take every week. 263 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,480 The bread represents Christ's body. 264 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:05,680 The cup represents His blood. God is not making this stuff up 265 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,240 as He goes along. These are specific things He has 266 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:12,800 put in place that we might truly know how to worship Him. 267 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,360 You remember in the Old Testament when those priests 268 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:22,640 took strange license to attempt to worship God with strange fire 269 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,200 and strange incense? It wasn't pleasing to Him. 270 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,480 We have to think about our own worship before him. 271 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,400 Lord, does this really please you today so much worship today 272 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,920 and I don't tell you guys and and these guys work real hard to 273 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:42,880 pick the songs that are about God to God for God, not songs 274 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,320 that are you could sing to your girlfriend or your wife, you 275 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:47,120 know that are just like you were these words. 276 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,440 What do they mean but songs that are doctrinally correct and pure 277 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:56,800 and magnify the glory of of God in Malachi chapter one, verse 278 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,440 11, it's interesting. It says for from the rising of 279 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:03,560 the sun even to its going down. That's that's a picture of 280 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,319 eternity. My name shall be great among the 281 00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:11,400 Gentiles and every place incense shall be offered to my name for 282 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,720 my name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 283 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,319 He says in every place, in every place. 284 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:25,680 Incense is a beautiful gift that was given to our Lord at his 285 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,880 birthright. Incense, frankincense and myrrh 286 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:35,120 were given to him at his birth. And we see as we reflect on the 287 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:39,800 Jewish temple, the worship, its continuation in heaven. 288 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:44,160 I love this section in Luke chapter one, verse 9 through 11. 289 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:50,040 According to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn 290 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,320 incense. This is Zacharias as he's doing 291 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:58,440 his responsibility before the altar of God and the Angel of 292 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:04,280 God is speaking to the family that Elizabeth is going to have 293 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:06,960 a child and it's an impossibility because she's been 294 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:08,240 barren. How in the world can this 295 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,360 happen? And he's burning the incense and 296 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:15,680 he he went into the temple of the Lord and the whole multitude 297 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:19,400 of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense 298 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,320 again the the the community when the prayers of the of the 299 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:27,120 incense was the representation that we now are lifting up the 300 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:29,240 fragrance. Our prayers are like fragrance 301 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:31,760 unto God. And an Angel of the Lord 302 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:36,280 appeared to him to Zacharias standing on the right side of 303 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:41,520 the altar of incense, A literal physical altar that is not any 304 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,160 on earth at the time, but will also be in heaven. 305 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:49,400 We're seeing John talk about it. So the worship and revelation is 306 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,000 very different from ours, isn't it? 307 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:56,240 Completely different from ours? And verse 4, it talks about the 308 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,880 smoke of the incense with the prayers that are ascending 309 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:03,120 before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense with the prayers 310 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:05,920 that ascends. The Saints ascended before God 311 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:11,640 from the angel's hand. So the Angel has a sensor that's 312 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:19,160 coals fire to burn the incense, and he's sensing that altar 313 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:25,080 before God's throne. And God immediately sees that as 314 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,440 the prayers of his people growing up into heaven from all 315 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:33,480 the earth throughout all time, and that He has our prayers in 316 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:35,600 bowls. I can't imagine the size of 317 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,840 those bowls, but all the prayers of every person and every broken 318 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:44,560 heart throughout all time has never been dumped out. 319 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,600 And that one day all our prayers are going to be answered. 320 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,000 And some prayers we're waiting for. 321 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,160 And waiting for we think, well, God, did you miss that one or 322 00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:01,240 wasn't it important to God? Every prayer of his children is 323 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:06,400 priceless, so priceless that he stores them all in these bowls. 324 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:14,120 And verse 5, we see the Angel, He takes the sensor, fills it 325 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:16,720 with fire from the altar and he throws it to the earth. 326 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,000 And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings and 327 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,480 earthquake. The casting of this sensor to 328 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,400 Earth. Shows the prayers of the Saints 329 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,040 in the sense of how long Lord, will it be till you bring 330 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,880 righteousness, not vengeance on our part. 331 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,040 Lord, I hope you get that person that really messed me up in my 332 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:39,240 life years ago. I hope you get even with that 333 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,080 dirtbag and that you know, whatever and we're just like, 334 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,480 you know, no, it's not about that. 335 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:49,160 It's God's righteousness that we're waiting to be completely 336 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:52,800 satisfied. If you look at Revelation 337 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,560 chapter 6, we were there a few weeks ago, 9:00 and 11:00. 338 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,800 This is the heart of what is happening. 339 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,640 When He opens the 5th seal. I saw under the altar the souls 340 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,160 of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the 341 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,240 testimony which they held. And they crowd with a loud 342 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,880 voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge 343 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:14,000 and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. 344 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:16,360 Then a white robe is given to each of them. 345 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:19,520 And it was said to them that they should rest a little while 346 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,320 longer, until both the number of the fellow servants and their 347 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,560 brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. 348 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,880 And so the the the prayer for us is OK. 349 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:36,880 Lord, how long will these things occur on earth where mankind 350 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,080 refuses to acknowledge your existence? 351 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:44,480 Where we feel as countries that we don't need God, that we want 352 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,000 to take down the crosses in public places. 353 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:52,600 We want to eliminate the prayers from our Senate and our House 354 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:56,200 and our government. We want to change the name of 355 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,960 our country to something that is completely independent of God, 356 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,640 who He is. You know, I don't make this 357 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:05,640 stuff up. I have no political agenda. 358 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:09,080 I hope you sense that when I preach, I'm not lifting up the 359 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:14,280 Republican or Democratic Party, but the theocratic government of 360 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,680 God. And God's justice is clearly 361 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,360 revealed in the Scripture for what he says is right and what 362 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:23,760 he says is wrong. And I don't care what ideology 363 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:28,120 we have politically, if our ideology does not line up with 364 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:32,680 God's intention, then we're to be judged. 365 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,680 And we're the ones that are responsible for communicating 366 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:43,920 what is true in our nation. The freedom of religion that we 367 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,800 have the precious right to have in our country that is slowly 368 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:52,120 being dismantled and we're not even clearly aware of it. 369 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,320 The casting of the center to earth. 370 00:22:55,320 --> 00:23:00,600 Finally, the one who has the right to bring judgement, cast 371 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,160 that down and it represents the fire of God coming from heaven. 372 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:10,400 And the beginning of the second period of the tribulation, the 373 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:14,000 devastation upon the earth begins to be poured out. 374 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:18,120 The thunderings, the earthquakes signify the judgment of God. 375 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:23,600 And it is eminent at this point prior to, and we'll get into the 376 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,280 rest of the chapter next week. Next week we'll get into the 377 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,840 more radical aspects of the development of this difficult 378 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,520 time on the earth. But then I think about this 379 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:35,720 silence in heaven for half an hour. 380 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,840 And if you pick up nothing from the sermon up until this point, 381 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,760 think about this. This is a prophetic revelation 382 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,080 that he's been given a long time ago. 383 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:50,520 He's seen this. In the Book of Revelation, 384 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,760 Pastor Clark is taking us through all kinds of events and 385 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,720 happenings that are predicted for the future. 386 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,520 But for those who believe and follow Jesus, there's much to 387 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,360 look forward to in heaven with Jesus. 388 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:07,280 However, for those who are here on earth during the Tribulation, 389 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,680 there's all kinds of chaos that will unfold. 390 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,120 The Bible talks about an Antichrist, a false prophet, and 391 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:18,040 of course that evil enemy, Satan. 392 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:21,880 Do you see how there are such clever attempts for the enemy to 393 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,080 disguise himself as God and even the Trinity? 394 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,600 The true Savior of the world is God and how he comes to rescue 395 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:34,880 through his triune nature God the Father, Jesus the Son, and 396 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:39,080 God the Holy Spirit. Just like Satan tried to take 397 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:43,640 over for God in heaven was cast out, Satan will try to convince 398 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,560 people on earth that he is the triune God to be worshipped 399 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,280 instead of the legitimate God in heaven. 400 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,440 It's an attempt, and although he will capture plenty in his 401 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:59,360 schemes, he will not win. The true God wins, and 402 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:03,200 Revelation unpacks how that will all happen in detail. 403 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,600 Be encouraged because there's a way out for all of this madness 404 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,320 that will ensue on this earth. But you don't want to wait 405 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,560 indefinitely to make that decision about Jesus. 406 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,840 We don't know when the church will be raptured, and you want 407 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,960 to be ready to be with Jesus. To learn more about this, head 408 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:28,160 over to calvarychapelonline.com. We're so glad you've been with 409 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,320 us today. And if you'd like to connect 410 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,600 further with this ministry, find us on Facebook or YouTube. 411 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:38,800 You can also download our mobile app at calvarychapelonline.com. 412 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:44,440 Be sure to join us for weekly services at 400 E Pittsburgh St. 413 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:53,000 Ste. 6B in Greensburg, PA 15601. This has been living waters of 414 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:53,560 grace.