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 --> 00:00:40,440 There's always this group of people, thank God, since the 6 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:44,160 beginning of time, throughout the Old Testament, when Israel 7 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:48,160 rank and file were turning their backs toward God, there was a 8 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:52,120 remnant, always right, that moved toward God, that the Lord 9 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:56,000 could work through, that he could be glorified in the midst 10 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,120 of. And in this church, Sardis, in 11 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,480 the midst of its struggle and floundering, there was people in 12 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:08,040 the church that had an intensity regardless of what anybody else 13 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:09,800 was doing or thinking or feeling. 14 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:14,560 The faithful remnant has always been present among God's people. 15 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,560 Whether we look at Israel and the Old Testament with their 16 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,840 many rebellions and wars, or at the more recent church history 17 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:26,040 of the Middle Ages, we see there has been strife and dissension 18 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,640 within the people of God. Notably, though, there has 19 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,880 always been a section of those who remained faithful and 20 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,160 obedient. Noah, Joseph, David. 21 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,880 Each of these are an example of someone who continued to follow 22 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,200 the Lord even when it wasn't popular. 23 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,800 Now here's Pastor Clark in Revelation Chapter 3 with 24 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,800 today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 25 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,120 This church failed to keep adequate watch in their own 26 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,680 spiritual community. The sin of the church was 27 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,680 encroaching upon the glory of God. 28 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,360 The importance of the church always being in repentance. 29 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,720 You guys might get tired of me talking about repentance. 30 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,160 When I stopped talking about repentance, that's when you need 31 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:16,360 to start start worrying. The message of repentance is 32 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,880 continual. Day in and day out. 33 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,880 I'm either moving and pushing and rushing toward God, right? 34 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,640 I'm moving and rushing away from God. 35 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:29,920 There's only two places you or I are heading in. 36 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,280 We're either pressing into God or we're moving away from God. 37 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,840 When we're moving away from God, that's when we need to repent 38 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,000 and we repent, we turn back to God and we're moving in the 39 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,080 right direction. And so the importance of 40 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:47,600 repentance and the Lord is very specific. 41 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,880 And the majority of these seven churches, the message to the 42 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,120 majority of them is this message of repentance. 43 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:00,400 If we don't individually and corporately as a church live in 44 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,240 repentance, the power of God will be non existent in this 45 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,880 church, starting with me and the elders. 46 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:12,680 If I allow hardness in my heart, or backsliding, or bitterness, 47 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:20,280 or unbelief or immoral thoughts or double mindedness to capture 48 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:24,840 my attention, the church will become weak. 49 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:32,280 If you come to the church with less than a passion for the 50 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:36,480 Lordship of Jesus Christ in your life, you will be weak. 51 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,200 Your family will be weak. The church will be weak. 52 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,280 It's a body of Christ, right? All of us together, we all 53 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,840 either inspire each other to press in deeper to God, or we 54 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,600 inspire each other to move away from God. 55 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,680 And so the Lord is clearly speaking what needs to be 56 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,720 occurring in this church now. It was a difficult city to live 57 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:03,000 in because of the intensity of the immorality, just like it is 58 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,520 for us today in our world. It's getting more difficult as 59 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:12,320 the days go by to maintain purity in your mind because of 60 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,200 what the media portrays every day. 61 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,560 The billboards, the radio advertisements, the television 62 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,040 ads. I mean, you cannot help but to 63 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,880 be assaulted by immoral thinking because of the dominance of 64 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,000 media, Internet, television, radio waves. 65 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,440 I have to discipline myself. I got XM radio and I'm working. 66 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:34,440 I'm driving around all the time and I get bored. 67 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,720 Sometimes I'm listening to CSNBC or sometimes I'm listening to 68 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:40,240 Fox. Sometimes I'm listening to 69 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,840 classical music. Sometimes I'm listening to talk 70 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:45,240 radio. And I was listening, I think 71 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,160 Glenn Becker or Sean Hannity was on the other day. 72 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,040 And Cindy and I are walking and all of a sudden like the next 73 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,360 person that came on singing this like immoral song. 74 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:56,800 I mean, and Cindy's like, what's that? 75 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,440 How did that, how did that, you know, this is like a a talk 76 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:01,960 conservative talk station that you wouldn't anticipate 77 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,080 something like that coming on. And I I was like, you know, for 78 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:06,440 a couple minutes, I'm like, listen to it. 79 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,160 I'm like, yeah, what what how did that? 80 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:10,240 Is this that I accidentally hit the wrong button? 81 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,720 You, you need to be constantly aware of what is coming into 82 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,840 your conscience. Now, this city was known for its 83 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:21,040 immorality. And so as a result of the 84 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,720 church, it was getting more and more difficult for them to have 85 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,720 moral restraint, not an excuse when the culture goes downhill, 86 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,200 that you say, well, if everybody's being somewhat 87 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,720 lackadaisical in their moral fiber, we can't help it. 88 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,080 We're just, we're all part of it together, the world. 89 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:39,760 So I guess, you know, we all sort of go down to drain 90 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,000 together. No, there needs to be a constant 91 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,720 remnant of believers that are saying, no, we're not going this 92 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:48,560 way. We're going the Lord's way. 93 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,520 And, and I'm turning the TV off and I'm teaching my kids, 94 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,240 there's certain things that you watch and there's certain things 95 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,240 you don't watch, right? There's certain filters you need 96 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,400 to have on your Internet so that the wrong things don't come in 97 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,840 to defile you and to attack you and to trap you and entice you. 98 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:09,000 And so the Lord is speaking about this church, but also 99 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:13,480 encouraging them in verse 4 that you have a few names even in 100 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,560 Sardis who have not defiled their garments. 101 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:18,440 And they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 102 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,640 In every church there is always a remnant. 103 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,160 I believe there's a strong remnant in this church. 104 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,400 I believe that the Lord is drawing the type of people to 105 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,720 this church that are serious about their relationship with 106 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:33,800 Jesus Christ. We're praying. 107 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:38,520 Lord, send those who are hungry for you, take those out that 108 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,960 aren't hungry for you. And Lord, stir up those here 109 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:47,440 today that aren't hungry, that down deep inside really want to 110 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:49,080 be hungry. They've just sort of lost their 111 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,080 way. Help them to hear your voice 112 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,360 today and to be able to repent. But there's always this group of 113 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,800 people, thank God, since the beginning of time, throughout 114 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,560 the Old Testament, when Israel rank and file were turning their 115 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,240 backs toward God, there was a remnant, always right, that 116 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,240 moved toward God, that the Lord could work through, that He 117 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,520 could be glorified in the midst of. 118 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,040 And in this church, Sardis, in the midst of its struggle and 119 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,400 floundering, there was people in the church that had an intensity 120 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,160 regardless of what anybody else was doing or thinking or 121 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,840 feeling. And that's sort of like with all 122 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:30,240 of you. When you come here on a Sunday 123 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,680 or Wednesday or some gathering, some meeting, what's drawing you 124 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,640 to the community? What's drawing you to the 125 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,640 church? Hopefully it's not programs or 126 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,280 entertainment. Those are all well and good. 127 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,600 They can be fun. But it's the Spirit of God 128 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,840 that's drawing you, because if the Spirit of God isn't drawing 129 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,880 us in this church, we really don't have a church, do we? 130 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,960 It has to be the Spirit in our midst that's drawing all of us 131 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,560 to deeper places with the Lord. The only good thing about this 132 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,520 church is this fact that there is this remnant, and they're 133 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,520 described as people who are overcoming in verse 5. 134 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,400 He who overcome shall be clothed in white garments. 135 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:17,840 Now he says that they have this name that was alive. 136 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,680 If you ever gone to a church, it might be a big church, a lot of 137 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,400 people, a lot of activity and you just assume driving up 138 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,080 because of the parking lot and the police and all, man, 139 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:28,440 something must be happening here. 140 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:30,640 Look at all this man, look at this facility. 141 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,720 Look at the size of this or the size of that and you're a 142 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,120 remnant believer. You don't, you just maybe you're 143 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,480 moving into community, you're looking around trying to find a 144 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,159 church or whatever. And most times people think, 145 00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:45,480 well, the biggest church is a happening church, right? 146 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,360 So you go and you park your car and you go in and you sit there, 147 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,800 but something down deep in your in your heart is struggling 148 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:56,000 because you're saying God, what in the world's going on in here? 149 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,800 All these people and the worship is so self-centered. 150 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:03,760 The worship isn't exalting the Lord. 151 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:09,400 The the message is about me and not you. 152 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,280 And if you're a remnant believer, you're going to 153 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,320 recognize that and you're not going to go back to that kind of 154 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:20,000 church. But if you're those who have a 155 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:25,840 name that you're alive because of the capacity to the crowd and 156 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,600 what the world says about the facility and the church, but the 157 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:34,520 Spirit says that you're dead. You won't know if you're not a 158 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:40,000 remnant believer and around that believer isn't a higher class 159 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,760 Christian or super Christian. It's someone who I believe is 160 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,440 truly a Christian. Because when you're really a 161 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,040 believer and you really know Jesus Christ, you can't help to 162 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,360 have conflict in your heart and in your spirit when things 163 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,760 aren't the way they need to be. You just know the Holy Spirit 164 00:09:57,760 --> 00:09:59,600 convicts you. He gives you insight, He gives 165 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:03,440 you enlightenment, and finally you just say enough is enough 166 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,840 and you move on and you ask the Lord to guide you to where he 167 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,840 wants you to be. God has a way of looking at 168 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,480 ministries, and man has a way of looking at ministries. 169 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:20,880 And the Lord in this church is able to see that the community 170 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,000 thinks it's alive. The church itself thinks it's 171 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,040 alive, but he says really clearly you're dead. 172 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:32,320 The church is doing all kind of works. 173 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:40,840 It's busy, it's active. He says I found your works not 174 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:43,080 perfect. I have not found your works 175 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,920 perfect before God. So in other words, a church that 176 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:51,640 has a lot of programs and a lot of work, basically from God's 177 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,080 perspective, if it isn't the right work and it isn't done 178 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,480 through his Spirit is imperfect. Basically, it's a waste. 179 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:00,880 It's going to burn. You know, the judgment seat of 180 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:02,440 Christ. It talks about the works being 181 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:05,000 tried with fire. Some will go through and come 182 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,880 out gold, silver, Prussian stone, and some are going to 183 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:13,200 come out wood, hay, and stubble. Some are going to be found 184 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,720 worthless. And so when the works are tried 185 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,360 by God and they're not found perfect, He's looking about 186 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:21,200 what's the purity of the motives? 187 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:25,800 And is what you're doing being done by the Holy Spirit, or is 188 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,040 it this being done because someone said it was a good idea? 189 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:29,720 We should do this or we should do that? 190 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,840 I mean, we're told in our pastors conferences when there's 191 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,080 a ministry that's on artificial life support, pull the plug. 192 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,280 If God isn't in it, why waste your time and your energy and 193 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,520 your money doing something that has no life? 194 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,400 But many times our pride gets in the way. 195 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,920 Well, this is my ministry and this is what I'm doing. 196 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,960 And this is, you know, and the Lord isn't interested in my 197 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:00,360 ministry or your ministry. He's interested in his ministry. 198 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:04,240 So the public perceives one thing about this church 199 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,480 outwardly, it's mechanically driven. 200 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:09,680 It's, it's everything's firing on all cylinders. 201 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:13,240 Everything looks good, but it's a ministry of the flesh. 202 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:21,000 And God perceives one thing the heart and the remnant is 203 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,280 following the Lord after the heart here they overcomers a 204 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,040 faithful because they're being LED of the Spirit. 205 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:31,600 There was a man who gave a good in good insight regard to what 206 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,560 ministries are. It starts out with a man. 207 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,240 Our ministry started out with a man by the name of Chuck Smith, 208 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:42,360 86 years old now, still going strong, still preaching 3 times 209 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:48,320 on Sunday over 2000 churches. The result of this man's calling 210 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:54,920 and his willingness to open the doors for others to serve in the 211 00:12:55,720 --> 00:13:00,560 heart and the movement of the Holy Spirit through Calvary 212 00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:03,000 Chapel. So it starts out with a man 213 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:08,440 that's like Charles Wesley the Methodist Church and John Calvin 214 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,640 in the Presbyterian Church and Martin Luther in the Lutheran 215 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,760 Church starts out with a man. God uses a man verse a ministry, 216 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:20,440 a movement through a man, and then what happens is after the 217 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,840 movement begins and it's birthed by the Holy Spirit, the movement 218 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:25,640 has a tendency to become a machine. 219 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:31,840 So all of a sudden we have our dove and we have our Maranatha 220 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:37,440 music and we have our blue jeans and we have our laid back way 221 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:41,200 about ourselves. Well, that can be very easily 222 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:47,200 mechanical, can it? And machine will eventually 223 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:53,600 break down. And then after the machine, the 224 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,040 movement becomes a monument. I was at a church down in the 225 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:03,200 college down in West Virginia, and I see a big statue of a 226 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:05,840 person out front. And I asked the person, well, 227 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,120 who is that? And they said, well, that's John 228 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,320 Wesley. And I went into the church, 229 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,680 beautiful church. And I asked, you know, what kind 230 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:16,120 of services they had there and what went on. 231 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,880 And it had nothing to do with what Charles Wesley was called 232 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:22,120 to do. Great Awakening. 233 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:28,200 The church had moved away from the vision of the Holy Spirit 234 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,160 through that man's life. And now it literally became a 235 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,000 monument, right? Beautiful college, big statue of 236 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:36,880 Wesley. But no one knew Wesley's heart 237 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,440 or what he was like or what made him tick for God. 238 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:44,560 If you turn over to Galatians chapter 3, for a moment, Paul 239 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:48,520 speaks about this phenomena occurring way back in his 240 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,080 ministry days. He's speaking to the Galatians 241 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,600 church in Galatia, and he says in verse 1 of chapter 3, O 242 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,000 foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? 243 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:00,000 In other words, who hath deceived you? 244 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,040 Who has confused you, Who's mixed you up, that you should 245 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,840 not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly 246 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:08,560 portrayed among you, is crucified. 247 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:10,840 This only I want to learn from you. 248 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:15,000 Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the 249 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,960 hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? 250 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:21,600 Having begun in the Spirit? Are you now being made perfect 251 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,760 by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things 252 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:30,080 in vain? If indeed it was in vain, that's 253 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,680 every time Chuck would come to the Pastor's conference. 254 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,400 I used to think, well he's getting older, he must have some 255 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,000 degree of Alzheimer's and dementia because he keeps saying 256 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:45,400 the same thing to us every year. And after about 3 conferences, I 257 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,840 started getting what he was talking about and I understood 258 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:52,440 why we needed to be reminded. He'd stand up, he'd say, oh 259 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:59,320 foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that you starting 260 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:03,600 out in the Spirit, thinking now it can be made perfect by the 261 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,480 flesh. He said. 262 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:09,680 I've never seen a movement of God in the history of the church 263 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,160 that didn't start out as a movement of the Holy Spirit, 264 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,400 that didn't end up dying, because it became a movement 265 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,640 controlled by man. And his expectation to us all 266 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:27,440 the time was to be men of the Spirit, men dependent on the 267 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:32,240 Spirit, men desperate for the Holy Spirit, men crying out for 268 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:35,040 the Holy Spirit. That we in our churches would 269 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:41,400 not turn the ministry into a machine and a monument, That the 270 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:43,440 ministry would be fresh all the time. 271 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,240 That it wouldn't be something that anybody could say it was 272 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:52,280 because of some historical thing that happened 30 or 40 years 273 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:55,080 ago. But at its current, it's 274 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:59,720 contemporary, it's present working and movement of the Holy 275 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,840 Spirit. Zechariah chapter 4 verse 6 says 276 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:09,119 this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might, nor by 277 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:13,880 power, but by my Holy Spirit, but by my Spirit, says the Lord 278 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,680 of hosts. The Holy Spirit is the power of 279 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:22,520 the church. He's the one that gives the life 280 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,319 to the church. He's the one that reveals Jesus 281 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:28,079 Christ to the lost. He's the one that encourages you 282 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:31,520 and lifts you up, not of your despair and out of your sin and 283 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:33,560 out of your lethargy and complacency. 284 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:41,640 If we grieve the Holy Spirit, we lose the power in the church. 285 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:48,000 But the good news is if we repent of our sin, and that's 286 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,600 what many of us did here last Sunday after church, if we 287 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:56,120 repent of our sin, the church becomes alive, doesn't it? 288 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,600 Jesus said in John 663 it is a Spirit who gives life. 289 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:07,760 The flesh prophets nothing. The words I speak to you are 290 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,760 Spirit and they are life. The Lord is here in our midst 291 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,360 today. His heart is totally focused 292 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:19,520 upon Himself being revealed to your heart and mind today. 293 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,840 That's what this is all about, Christ in our myths, Christ 294 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,560 being worshipped and glorified and magnified. 295 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,880 Nothing else is important but Him. 296 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:36,120 He says it's a spirit who'll give you life. 297 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:43,280 The flesh profits nothing. So it's easy as churches to fall 298 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:45,560 into mechanical activities of ministry. 299 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:51,200 You have people running ministries, many places that 300 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,560 aren't walking with the Lord, but they're in the ministries 301 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,320 because the church needs people to do whatever it is that they 302 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:59,720 need to do right in order to keep it going. 303 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,400 And so the church begins to be desperate instead of praying and 304 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,240 waiting on the Lord. Lord send me the right person to 305 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,200 do the ministry. I'll just grab any warm body 306 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,040 that I can get right just to keep it alive. 307 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:16,200 And what happens is you get people who are living in sin 308 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,480 that are teaching kids. You got pastors who are burnt 309 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:21,640 out because they're trying to keep the machine going and they 310 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:24,160 know it's breaking down, but they can't keep it going. 311 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,960 And they're getting weary and tired and bitter and angry. 312 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:36,080 And the devotion that the people are supposed to have, that they 313 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,800 would serve the Lord out of only the motivation of love for God. 314 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:43,360 As Jesus said, if you love me, you'll keep my word. 315 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:45,760 In other words, if you love me, you'll do what I ask you to do. 316 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,840 There is no devotion. There's no love. 317 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,360 The moment I stop loving God and the moment I stop loving you 318 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:58,160 guys is the day I got to resign. There's too many of us in 319 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,440 ministry that are in ministry because it's become a mistress. 320 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:05,560 It's become an ego thing. I want to speak to 10 people. 321 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:08,400 I want to speak to 100 people. I want to speak to 1000 people. 322 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,280 And then meanwhile, the pastor goes home and he's kicking the 323 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,320 dog and yelling at the wife, miserable. 324 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:16,400 But everybody in the church thinks they're so wonderful 325 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:19,160 because no one really knows who they are because they can't get 326 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:20,720 to them, especially in the bigger church. 327 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,800 So they assume they walk on water until the wife says, I've 328 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,000 had enough. I quit. 329 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,360 You can't quit if you quit. They'll really know what I'm 330 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:35,040 like and they won't come into church anymore. 331 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,920 Matthew 15-8 says these people draw near to me with their mouth 332 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,080 and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 333 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,720 So you got a church, whether it's this size or 10 times this 334 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,240 size, God sees the heart when we worship. 335 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,720 And Rick and the guys, Giles, lead us in the Lord's presence 336 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,160 that we can sing the songs, we can raise our hands. 337 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,680 But Jesus says the possibility exists that there will be some 338 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,880 of us here that will draw near to him with our his, our mouths, 339 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:13,080 honor him with our lips, but our heart is far from him. 340 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:18,640 You know, the works that this church was doing was not drawing 341 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,200 attention to the greatness of God. 342 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,600 It was drawing attention to the greatness of the church. 343 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:27,400 That's why everybody thought the church was alive, right? 344 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,120 But Jesus says these works aren't perfect. 345 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:38,000 He's only interested in perfect works, and only by the Holy 346 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,400 Spirit can works be perfect. If I'm doing them in my own 347 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,840 strength, they might look good. You might say, oh wow, that was 348 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,320 great, or whatever the Lord says it stinks. 349 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,800 And the problem is that churches and leaders have become more 350 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,240 interested in what the people think than what God thinks. 351 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:06,240 Man pleasers wanting people to think highly of them instead of 352 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:10,880 God seeing them and saying, well done, good and faithful servant. 353 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,640 Ephesians 210 says, and John went over this in the men's 354 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,600 meeting this morning. We are his workmanship created 355 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:23,920 in Christ Jesus for good works. God saved you and delivered you 356 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:29,120 and me from sin to do good works which God prepared beforehand 357 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:31,040 that we should walk in him. So in other words, I believe 358 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,840 every one of our lives, when we're brought into the Kingdom, 359 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:38,080 God has a plan, a perfect plan for every one of our lives, a 360 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:42,960 list of works that he wants to work through us if we're yielded 361 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,840 and dependent on him. And many of us, for whatever 362 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,960 reason, we get sidetracked so often and we see these other 363 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:50,440 work. So I'm going to go do these. 364 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:52,160 And God said, well, I didn't create you for that. 365 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,680 I created you for this, but I really want to do this. 366 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:55,960 And the Lord said, no, no, come over. 367 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:57,840 This is this is what I'll empower you with. 368 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,200 This is how I'll bless you. This is how I use you. 369 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:02,120 No, no, I want this, I want to do this. 370 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,040 And so we go do this and it's not perfect. 371 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:11,440 It's weak, it's dead, it's dry, it wears on us, it makes us 372 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,600 breakdown. And eventually we say, I can't 373 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,880 do this anymore. And the Lord says, well, I never 374 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,640 asked you to do it. You're doing your works instead 375 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:22,240 of my works. He says my yoke is easy and my 376 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,200 burden is light. So if we're wearing a yoke and a 377 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,360 burden and we're trying to serve God and it's burning us out and 378 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:32,560 wearing us down, God's saying this is not the yoke I have for 379 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:34,560 you. Come back over here and humble 380 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:38,160 yourself and do these things. Well, Lord, that's doesn't seem 381 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,440 real important. Well, to me it's critically 382 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,200 important because if you do what I made you to do, people will 383 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,520 see me in your life. 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 --> 00:24:00,480 But for those who believe and follow Jesus, there's much to 387 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,320 look forward to in heaven with Jesus. 388 00:24:03,920 --> 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 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:15,120 The Bible talks about an Antichrist, a false prophet, and 391 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:18,000 of course, that evil enemy, Satan. 392 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,840 Do you see how there are such clever attempts for the enemy to 393 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:25,040 disguise himself as God and even the Trinity? 394 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,560 The true Savior of the world is God and how he comes to rescue 395 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:34,880 through his triune nature God the Father, Jesus the Son, and 396 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:39,120 God the Holy Spirit. Just like Satan tried to take 397 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:43,080 over for God in heaven and was cast out, Satan will try to 398 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:47,000 convince people on earth that he is the Triune God to be 399 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,280 worshipped 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 --> 00:25:28,200 over to calvarychapelonline.com. We're so glad you've been with 409 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,320 us today. And if you'd like to connect 410 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,640 further with this ministry, find us on Facebook or YouTube. 411 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:38,840 You can also download our mobile app at calvarychapelonline.com. 412 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:44,480 Be sure to join us for weekly services at 400 E Pittsburgh St. 413 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:53,040 Ste. 6B in Greensburg, PA 15601. This has been living waters of 414 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:53,600 grace.