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 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:38,640 For Christians, we're not of this world. 6 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:43,160 The Bible says we have a heavenly Father who's builder 7 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,400 and maker, who's God. So the believers are not under 8 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,440 the authority of the devil. But if you're here today and 9 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,280 you're lost and you don't know Jesus Christ, you're caught in 10 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,120 the snare of the devil. You're under the power of his 11 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,640 influence and you're in bondage to do His will, and the only way 12 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,720 you can get free from that is the gospel. 13 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,840 Do you want to be here to deal with this stuff if you're not a 14 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,120 Christian? Pastor Clark asks you a pointed 15 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,520 question today. So do you? 16 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,120 Do you really want to be around for the things that are 17 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:19,520 mentioned in the books of Second Thessalonians in Revelation? 18 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:24,000 As Pastor Clark continues on in his message, you come to realize 19 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,640 that the wrath of God is meant as a consequence for those in 20 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,680 the world who have willfully run the other way from salvation. 21 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:38,560 So let me urge you today, run toward Jesus, run toward 22 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,480 salvation. It will be the greatest choice 23 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,240 you will ever make. Now here's Pastor Clark in 24 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,720 Second Thessalonians chapter 2 with today's edition of Living 25 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,560 Waters of Grace. Only he, capital H, referring to 26 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:58,000 God Himself who now restrains, will do so until He's taken out 27 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,040 of the way. What's restraining all this 28 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,520 stuff from occurring right now to a great degree is still the 29 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,600 Church in this world. And when the lawless one will be 30 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,400 revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breadth of his 31 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,240 mouth, and destroy with the brightnesses of his coming. 32 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,920 Even though this Antichrist will be raised up one day and he'll 33 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:18,240 rule and reign for a period of time on earth, Christ will come 34 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,600 back at the second coming in and deal with Him in a very, very 35 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,120 dramatic way. The coming of the lawless 1 is, 36 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,640 according to the working of Satan, with all power signs and 37 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:30,960 lying wonders and with all unrighteousness deception among 38 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,000 those who perish because they did not receive the love of the 39 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:35,960 truth. That's what's heartbreaking, all 40 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,040 the people in the face of the earth being deceived to believe 41 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:44,240 and to follow this world ruler because they did not receive the 42 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,160 love of the truth, that they might be saved. 43 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,240 I pray today, if you're here, you would receive the love of 44 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,480 the truth that you can be saved. And for this reason God will 45 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,400 send them a strong delusion. God will send them strong 46 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,320 delusion, and they should believe a lie, that they all may 47 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,440 be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in 48 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,520 unrighteousness. Now, when John is speaking here 49 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,520 in chapter 4 and writing down the things that the Lord has 50 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:15,600 given him to reveal to the body of Christ, he's seeing all this 51 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,720 stuff and living color way ahead of the time it's supposed to 52 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:20,880 happen. And this book was written, It 53 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,200 was written a long time ago, thousands of years ago, and it 54 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,640 is so contemporary and current with the times that we are 55 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:30,080 currently living in now. And so he's seeing all that's 56 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:34,200 going to take place as a prelude to the tribulation, which will 57 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,280 actually start in chapter 6, verse one. 58 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:37,880 We'll get to that in the weeks ahead. 59 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,560 That's when Jesus, a lamb, will open up the first seal. 60 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,160 And the first seal is a picture of this Antichrist on the face 61 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,280 of the earth. He's going to pose as a savior 62 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,320 of the world. And in verse 1 of chapter 4, he 63 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,240 says again, the future is insight. 64 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,520 He says, I will show you the things which must, must take 65 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,160 place after this. He says he was caught up. 66 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:08,240 He was told to come up here and God would show him what was 67 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,240 going to be revealed. And I'd like you to look at 68 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,680 First Thessalonians chapter 4. This is really an important 69 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,920 section of Scripture for us here today who believe that the Lord 70 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:21,079 will come before this great tribulation. 71 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,760 It says in First Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 13, Paul, his 72 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,120 passion for the church, He doesn't want people to be in 73 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,040 ignorance. He wants us to know what's going 74 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,680 to happen, what's going on. I love what he says here, but I 75 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,560 do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who 76 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,960 have fallen asleep, meaning those who've passed on and who 77 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,160 have died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 78 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,400 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Even so God 79 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,000 will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. 80 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:55,080 Now when someone dies, a Christian dies and their bodies 81 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,200 in, you know, the casket that isn't that person anymore. 82 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,560 Their body is a shell. They're out of that body. 83 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,120 The Bible says they'd be absent in the body is to be present 84 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:07,760 with the Lord. So as soon as you die, if you're 85 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,320 a Christian, soon as I die, I'm not going into some ground and 86 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:13,400 the worms are going to get me and you aren't either. 87 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,640 We're going to be taken out by God's power and taken up to be 88 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,640 with Jesus is the apostle Paul says to be absent. 89 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,160 The body is present with the Lord, but the physical body will 90 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,920 still be in the grave. I did a funeral this week and I 91 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:32,240 reminded the people that this dear woman who died at 92, that 92 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,600 love Jesus wasn't at the grave site going into the ground. 93 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,080 She was already with the Lord, but her physical body, her old 94 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:44,520 body, was going into the ground. And it says For this we say to 95 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,720 you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain 96 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,840 until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those 97 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:54,200 who are asleep. For the Lord himself will 98 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,080 descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an 99 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,240 Archangel, and with the trump of God. 100 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,080 It's interesting that that trumpet shows up every time 101 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,960 we're talking about this truth of the rapture being caught 102 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:06,720 away. And it says, and the dead in 103 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,480 Christ will rise first, meaning the physical bodies of all those 104 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,200 Christians and believers in the Old Testament, New Testament 105 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,520 that died, that their bodies are in the grave. 106 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,280 When Christ comes back, those bodies are going to be 107 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,800 resurrected, where the Bible says this mortality will put on 108 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,320 immortality, this corruptible, the old dead body will put on 109 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,280 incorruption and we'll be receiving these resurrected 110 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:30,560 bodies. Those who are dead in Christ at 111 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,200 this time, keeping in mind that we're referring to the body, 112 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,280 their spirit will be reunited with the new body that they'll 113 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:38,920 have at the time of the resurrection. 114 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,960 And then it says in verse 17, then we who are alive, that 115 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,800 means people like us that are still walking around on the 116 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,120 earth shall be caught up. And that's where we get the word 117 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:51,560 from, the Latin word rapture. We will be caught up together 118 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,360 with them in the clouds to meet, keep the Lord in the air and 119 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:56,480 thus we shall always be with the Lord. 120 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,400 Isn't that awesome? It says, therefore comfort one 121 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,760 another with these words. We need to remind each other and 122 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:06,920 encourage each other no matter how tough life gets and what 123 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,560 comes down on us at times that the best is yet to come for the 124 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,960 Christian. So you know, you're driving down 125 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,600 the road, you're in an airplane, you're getting ready to get your 126 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,040 tooth pulled and you think, man, I'd love to miss this 127 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:20,480 opportunity of getting this pain with this dentist right now. 128 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:22,880 All of a sudden, the Trump sounds and you're out of there. 129 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,720 You're just getting right ready to write your check to the IRS. 130 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:27,320 You got to pay them taxes again, right? 131 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:29,560 And you're taking out right at the right time. 132 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,000 You know, I mean, there's so many awesome things that are 133 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,880 going to occur and we're going to be literally vanishing from 134 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:36,640 the earth. So the people in the world that 135 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,400 are still here, what happened? Where did these people go? 136 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,000 And there'll be some kind of government conspiracy thing. 137 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:45,480 All what? These people were the real 138 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,640 troublemakers and they were the wackos and the fanatics, you 139 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,440 know, and they finally, like, all hid and took off somewhere 140 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:53,560 and we don't know where. I mean, they'll make up all kind 141 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,760 of stories to try to keep the human race stable in such a 142 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:01,840 period of catastrophic like, why, how, how could this happen? 143 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:06,760 And so the importance of understanding the rapture of the 144 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:11,200 church, we ascribe to the rapture of the Church of Jesus 145 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,440 Christ prior to the great tribulation. 146 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,080 Don't confuse the rapture with the second coming of Jesus 147 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:18,840 Christ, OK? Because that's a completely 148 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,280 different event that occurs after the tribulation. 149 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:26,160 And verse two or three of chapter 4 of Revelation, it says 150 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,360 that God is on the throne here. Immediately I was in the Spirit 151 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:34,840 and behold, a throne was set in heaven and one capital, O&E, 152 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,120 that's referring to God. He's sitting on the throne, and 153 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:39,880 this throne is a throne of judgment. 154 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:44,600 This is a throne where God's going to begin to cast down all 155 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,800 the things upon the earth that need to occur in order for the 156 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:53,400 discipline and the justice of God's anger over a world that 157 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,600 like completely ignores his love and doesn't want to have 158 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,880 anything to do with them. And so in his fury, he's pouring 159 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,760 out this wrath on this rebellious world. 160 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,120 Now keep in mind as we're studying this guys, that God is 161 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,480 a God of love. God, it breaks his heart. 162 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:14,160 But he's just, he has to deal with the crimes of the human 163 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:15,560 race. He just can't ignore them and 164 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:18,080 act like they're not a big deal because look what they do to 165 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:21,080 people. They destroy lives everyday. 166 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:25,240 Babies are being aborted, right? I mean, there's more babies 167 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,560 being aborted in this world since the beginning of time than 168 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:30,760 any kind of Holocaust or any kind of world. 169 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,160 How long will God be able to put up with this? 170 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,200 There's a time when he says enough's enough. 171 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:43,840 The the sex slave trade of little children in India and and 172 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,640 Pakistan and other places in the world where they're taking young 173 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:51,280 kids 5-6 years old and selling them into sex slavery. 174 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:53,920 I mean, it's horrible. I mean, we're we're sort of 175 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,200 isolated at times on to the horror of the world that happens 176 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:02,240 behind the scenes every day. If we could see it the way those 177 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,040 people have to experience it and hear their tears on their 178 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:09,920 pillows at night crying out to a God they don't even know exists. 179 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:15,160 Many of them, we would say, like they say at the end of the Book 180 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:19,080 of Revelation, Maranatha, come quickly Lord Jesus, come 181 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:23,280 quickly, Lord Jesus. And that was the heart of the 182 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:28,160 early church. And so there's this beautiful 183 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,480 rainbow though around the throne at the same time. 184 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:32,640 And this is a beautiful truth here. 185 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,280 The rainbow around the throne is representing God's mercy in the 186 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,120 midst of judgment. In the midst of God's judgment 187 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,520 when He destroyed the earth the first time with the flood, 188 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:46,200 right, He promises after that event that He would put a 189 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,960 rainbow in the sky. And every time we would see that 190 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,960 rainbow, we would be reminded that He would never destroy the 191 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,800 earth by a flood again. God's mercy in the midst of 192 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,920 judgment and His promise in Genesis 9 regarding that the 193 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:05,400 earth will not be destroyed by a flood again even in this time of 194 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,360 judgment. And the wrath of God is about to 195 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,360 be poured out upon the earth, His mercy still going to be 196 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:12,760 present on the earth at the time. 197 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,840 Do you know that there's going to be many people who will come, 198 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:17,920 believers during that tribulation period? 199 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,560 They'll be your friends, your relatives, your neighbors, your 200 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:23,280 coworkers that you tried to tell about the gospel. 201 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,160 You tried to remind them about the love of God. 202 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:28,680 And they need to get saved. I'll do that later. 203 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:30,360 It's no big deal. I'm not interested. 204 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,720 Whatever. And so, you know, you only can 205 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:34,720 tell them, right? You only can warn them, tell 206 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:36,840 them the house is on fire. They don't want to get out, that 207 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:38,560 you, you know, you try to drag them out. 208 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,320 But people, they don't want to think that the house is on fire. 209 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,080 They think everything's OK. What's going to happen, though? 210 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:45,920 You're gone. And all of a sudden the first 211 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:49,200 thing you're going to think is I remember what he told me or she 212 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,720 told me. This is that event that they 213 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,680 were always excited about and anticipating coming and 214 00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:59,920 happening. What they said is true. 215 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,360 And now I realize that I need Jesus too. 216 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,520 And so many will become believers at that time. 217 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:11,160 There'll be no bow or beautiful rainbow around the last judgment 218 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:13,680 as we get in chapter 20. When we get near the end of the 219 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:16,320 book, that's a great white throne judgment, and that's when 220 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,560 there's no more chance. That's the final judgment when 221 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:21,200 God will separate the sheep from the goat, the believer from the 222 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:26,040 unbeliever, and those who are not found written in that book 223 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,800 of life. Because because God puts down 224 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:30,440 everybody who believes in a book. 225 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,080 Our names are there today, guys. It can't be taken out. 226 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,600 And the good news is, is that when we stand before the Lord in 227 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:41,680 that last day, all of us in that final judgment, He'll see your 228 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:43,880 name in there. If you're born again, you're 229 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:45,920 going to be sent into the Kingdom. 230 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,760 But those whoever's name was not found written in the Lamb's book 231 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:53,640 of life, all unbelievers, all those who rejected Christ will 232 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:57,080 be cast into the lake of fire and be in hell forever and ever. 233 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:58,920 And there's no more second chance. 234 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,840 No more second chance. Now the elders it refers to in 235 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:08,440 Revelation 4, chapter 4 and five, there's these 24 elders 236 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,760 sitting on these 24 Thrones. And we believe this symbolizes 237 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,000 the leaders of the congregation in the Old Testament, in the New 238 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,640 Testament, that in the Old Testament there was 12 tribes 239 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,320 that ruled in Israel. And the representatives, the 240 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,640 leaders of those 12 tribes will be sitting on 12 of those 241 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,160 Thrones. And the other 12 will be in the 242 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,200 New Testament. There are 12 apostles 243 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,480 representing us before the Kingdom of God. 244 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,680 And they're sitting, physically sitting, which is a beautiful 245 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:40,640 picture that they're wrestling from their earthly laborers. 246 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,120 There's no more work to do. Everything's been accomplished. 247 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,120 They've finished their task on earth. 248 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,560 They've been faithful to do what the Lord's told them to do. 249 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,000 And they're just sitting there waiting and they're clothed in 250 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:56,040 white raiment, white clothing. And this is a picture that God 251 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,840 has justified them from their sins, the garment of Christ's 252 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:01,880 righteousness. You know, the beauty of 253 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:04,240 salvation and what Christ has done. 254 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:07,360 I, I still sin and you'd still sin, right? 255 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:10,800 We, we know that the Bible says if we say we have no sin, we 256 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,440 deceive ourselves. We're, we're, we're deluded If 257 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:15,960 we think we're perfect, none of us are perfect here. 258 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,960 The difference between the believer and the unbeliever is 259 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:24,000 that whenever you come to Christ as a Sinner, Christ wraps you in 260 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,680 his righteousness. His blood cleanses you from all 261 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,240 your sins. And so as a father sees us now, 262 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:35,000 he doesn't see us as rebellious, hateful, ungodly people anymore. 263 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,080 He sees us as his kids, and he sees us wrapped in the 264 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,000 righteousness and the robe of Jesus Christ, the unbeliever. 265 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:46,240 When he stands before the Father, a Sinner has no covering 266 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:51,040 to protect him from a holy God. Because the only way you and I 267 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:55,840 can stand before a holy God is by having Christ in between us, 268 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,120 right? Because if we don't have Christ, 269 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,440 we have no foundation, no leg to stand upon. 270 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,800 And so they're also wearing these beautiful crowns. 271 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:10,000 It says they are, they have crowns of gold on their heads. 272 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,080 And these crowns represent victor crowns. 273 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,920 These people were faithful in their life to follow the Lord. 274 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:23,200 And they're being rewarded because they overcame through 275 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,920 Christ's blood upon their struggle on this earth. 276 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,760 And the wonderful thing is that you and I are all, we're all 277 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,360 going to be given crowns if we're true followers of Jesus 278 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,240 Christ. And these crowns are beautiful 279 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,280 because they represent a life. And, and I know you guys and, 280 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,560 and myself, we all have trials and struggles. 281 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,440 We have tragedies that come into our life. 282 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,680 We have difficulties that sometimes we don't know how 283 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:48,240 we're going to get through the next day. 284 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:52,280 But what causes us to persevere and to keep pressing on is the 285 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,120 Lord, isn't it? He empowers us, He strengthens 286 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:56,760 us. Some people might say to you, 287 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,000 how did you get through that? How did you make it through that 288 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,200 that difficult time in your life? 289 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:04,280 And you know there's only one answer. 290 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:08,240 It's the Lord. And you'll be given a crown one 291 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,360 day for overcoming. And it wasn't your own strength 292 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,480 that caused you to overcome. It was Christ in you that gave 293 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:17,240 you the power to overcome. It isn't amazing. 294 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:19,480 He gives us a crown. What do you give me this for? 295 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,880 Lord, I didn't deserve it. I know you didn't, but I did it 296 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:24,920 for you and I love you. Wear it, enjoy it. 297 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:29,000 And the beauty of that crowd is one day we'll be able to take 298 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,000 them off. And when the Lord is on the 299 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:35,480 throne at the end of time, we'll be able to go up and offer 300 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:39,120 something to Him, something He gave to us to give back to Him. 301 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,240 And it'll be so wonderful to cast our crowns at His feet. 302 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,040 Revelation chapter 2, verse 10 talks about Smyrna, the 303 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:50,000 persecuted church. They were tested and they were 304 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,600 tried and they had different difficult trials. 305 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,800 I bet they were given a crown of life because they overcame 306 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,720 through Christ. Jesus says in the world you will 307 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,640 have tribulation. Anybody have difficulty in here 308 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:03,600 today? Raise your hand. 309 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,880 Anybody have trials? And sometimes you don't know how 310 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:07,119 you're going to get through the next day. 311 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,160 We all are there. But he says this is Jesus in the 312 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,800 world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer have 313 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:18,760 overcome the world and so we overcome through Christ and 314 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,640 these that represents the leaders and those who are 315 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,160 wearing a crown of life. They're the faithful ones that 316 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,119 were faithful to death. They didn't ever give up. 317 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,640 They never denied Christ. They never renounced him once 318 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,880 they received him. They believed until the end. 319 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:39,720 These 24 we believe in this chapter 4 have already been 320 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,000 caught up into the heavens as we just studied in First 321 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,840 Thessalonians chapter 4. Now they're witnessing and 322 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,600 they're awaiting the beginning of God's righteous judgment upon 323 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:51,840 an ungodly world. So we're all going to be up 324 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:55,360 there at this time in in the future, and we're going to be 325 00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:58,880 aware of what's going to begin to transpire upon the face of 326 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:01,720 the earth. And I believe as Jesus is ever 327 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:03,400 living to make intercession for us. 328 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,280 Praying for you and me right now, every one of us that will 329 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,480 have strength to persevere. We will be praying along with 330 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,040 him in the Kingdom for all those loved ones who are left on 331 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,280 earth, that God's mercy will reach them and they'll become 332 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:18,400 believers even in that horrible time. 333 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,040 As we conclude the last thing he talks about verse 5, we'll pick 334 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,600 up verse 6 next week. He talks about the throne 335 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,960 proceeding lightnings and thunderings and voices the 336 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,760 lightnings and thunderings and voices, a picture of ominous 337 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:34,520 judgement. They all symbolize God's 338 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,520 presence coming near for judgment. 339 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,920 We see this when God gave the law on Mount Sinai. 340 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,000 You guys watch the 10 commandments and the movie and 341 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,520 whenever Moses went up there and the lightning and the Thunder 342 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,760 and the noise and this the the cloud and this the glory of God, 343 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,600 it was, it was frightening. Everybody on the face of the 344 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,240 earth at the time below the mountains had their face to the 345 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:55,800 ground. They were wondering what in the 346 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,600 world is going on. And Moses had to go up and walk 347 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,560 in the midst of that, God's presence being near. 348 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,640 And this was seen at the time that God gave his law to Moses, 349 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:09,040 saying, this is my character, this is what I want for the 350 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,800 people I've created. This is my holiness, my 351 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,000 righteousness. It says it came to pass on the 352 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,920 third day in the morning that there was thunderings and 353 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,240 lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of 354 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,720 the trumpet was very loud. So to all the people who were in 355 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:28,800 the camp trembled. I don't know about you, but 356 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:32,120 sometimes I'm at home and there's a lightning storm or 357 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:34,720 Thunder and you hear it a distance, no big deal. 358 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,040 But when it comes and it sounds like it's coming upon your 359 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:38,760 house, it shakes you, doesn't it? 360 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,400 I mean, what is, man? That you are mindful of us, 361 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:46,120 Lord. 1 Little ZAP on a golf course could take you or me out 362 00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:48,400 like that. And the Thunder and the 363 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,640 lightning of God's power and His glory being revealed, and the 364 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,080 and the wrath of God coming down upon the earth. 365 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,120 People are going to be fleeing for their lives, trying to hide 366 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:00,920 under the rocks and mountains. But you can't hide from God's 367 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:04,600 presence during the apocalypse. There will be great physical 368 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:08,640 violence and disaster about to be poured out upon the whole 369 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:10,000 earth. Revelation 11. 370 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,920 We'll talk more about that in verse 5. 371 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:16,760 It talks about the seven lamps. And this portrays the all 372 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,640 present Holy Spirit who's everywhere present and seeth all 373 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,320 things. And the Holy Spirit is a witness 374 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,000 here today with us guys. In John 16, it says the Holy 375 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:31,880 Spirit is here to convict the world of sin, of righteousness 376 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:37,240 and of judgment of sin because they do not believe in me. 377 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:41,360 The Lord God wants everyone to believe. 378 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:43,880 He's not willing that any should perish, but all should come to 379 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,400 repentance. The Holy Spirit's main ministry 380 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:52,000 is to convict us and show us I'm lost and I need a Savior. 381 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:55,120 That happened to me when I was 20 years old. 382 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:58,600 I didn't think I needed anybody. And then God got me in a place 383 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,760 in my life, as I'm sure He has many of you. 384 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,000 There was no more opportunity to negotiate. 385 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,600 I needed a Savior. I needed to be saved. 386 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:12,320 He convicts of righteousness because he goes to his Father 387 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:14,360 and you see me no more. In other words, the work is 388 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:16,840 finished. Christ proved He is who He said 389 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:18,800 He is. He's at the right hand of the 390 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,760 Father and of judgment. And that's the last conviction 391 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,040 because the ruler of this world is judged. 392 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,880 Second Corinthians 44 talks about Satan being the God of 393 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:32,240 this world. There is a counterfeit God and 394 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,640 there's a real God. The counterfeit God is Satan. 395 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:40,600 His major influence is over the mindset expressed by the ideals, 396 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:45,640 opinions, goals, hopes, and views of the majority of people. 397 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:52,640 The way the world Thinks guys is jaded because it's influenced by 398 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,000 the God of this world. It says his influences encompass 399 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,400 the world's philosophies, education and commerce. 400 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,680 The thoughts, ideas, speculations and false religions 401 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,760 of the world are under the control of the deceiver, the 402 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:13,080 liar, Satan, and they have sprung from his lies and his 403 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:14,920 deceptions. And it started right in the 404 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:16,280 garden. Remember Eve? 405 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:19,800 She's there and she's dealing with this temptation and the 406 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:22,560 devil's telling her, hey, if you eat this apple, you can become 407 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:24,920 like God. And she's like thinking, wow, 408 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,080 that sounds pretty, pretty interesting. 409 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,400 And she gets Adam over there and convinces him this is what they 410 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,680 should do. And Satan just took the word of 411 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,360 God, just twisted a little bit and said, hath not God said? 412 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:41,480 That's a little bit of doubt to not trust what God had told them 413 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,160 to stay away from this particular fruit. 414 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:48,200 But even though we have this enemy who's influencing this 415 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:50,520 world, he's referred to as a God of this world. 416 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:55,000 He's not the true God, and the true God is still in overall 417 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,520 control. Satan only can work within the 418 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,560 boundaries God has set. He only has dominion over lost 419 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,120 people. He doesn't have dominion over 420 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:05,320 you and me now, right? We're Christians. 421 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,120 We're not of this world. The Bible says we have a 422 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:12,680 heavenly Father who's builder and maker is God. 423 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,280 So the believers are not under the authority of the devil. 424 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,800 But if you're here today and you're lost and you don't know 425 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,760 Jesus Christ, you're caught in the snare of the devil, you're 426 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:26,240 under the power of his influence, and you're in bondage 427 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,840 to do his will. And the only way you can get 428 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,880 free from that is the gospel. Do you want to be here to deal 429 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,240 with this stuff if you're not a Christian? 430 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,840 I mean, why wouldn't you want to give your life to Christ today, 431 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,280 to be spared from the wrath that's to come? 432 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:43,440 And sometimes people think, well, what's that mean to become 433 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:44,880 a Christian? What do I have to do? 434 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:49,560 All you have to do is believe. You have to realize that Christ 435 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,800 is who he said He is, that he died for you, and that he rose 436 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,040 again and he's the only one that can save you. 437 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,680 This has been Living Waters of Grace with Pastor Clark. 438 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,080 We're going through the challenging and also intriguing 439 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,120 Book of Revelation. Whether you're a fan of reading 440 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:09,880 ahead in books of fiction, there's such a benefit to 441 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,480 reading ahead in the Bible to read about how it all ends. 442 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,400 But in an interesting turn of events, the Book of Revelation 443 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,600 is not really the end, but rather the beginning. 444 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 445 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,200 much to look forward to. But what comes after all? 446 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,200 The judgement of the earth and those who reject God? 447 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,520 There's a lot to work through, and it can be heartbreaking to 448 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,120 read through the intense judgements and wrath that will 449 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:42,880 come on those who hate God with all their might. 450 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,000 The thing is, God has given chance upon chance to these 451 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:48,600 people. They don't want it. 452 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:53,400 So the outcome is that there are judgements and consequences for 453 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,720 those who've rejected the good news and the gift of salvation 454 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,160 that's offered through Jesus's death and resurrection. 455 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,400 Are you one who has heard about these things but doesn't really 456 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,480 want it because you want to live life on your terms? 457 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,840 Trust me, living for Jesus is so much better. 458 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:18,000 That doesn't mean it will be easy, but as you listen and read 459 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,160 through Revelation with us, you'll come to a stark 460 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,120 realization that you don't want to be on earth when the 461 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:28,280 apocalypse happens. So check out Calvary Chapel 462 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,880 online.com to learn how to come to a saving grace through faith 463 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,680 that will allow you to be with Jesus for eternity. 464 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,200 We'd also love to meet you in person at Calvary Chapel 465 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,000 Westmoreland. Come join us at 400 E Pittsburgh 466 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:50,240 St. Ste. 6B in Greensburg, PA 15601. 467 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,440 This has been living waters of grace.