Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Living Waters of Grace, February 23, 2026

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Living Waters of Grace, February 23, 2026 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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is an out of date practice that many of us in the United States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