Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Living Waters of Grace May 25th, 2026

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Living Waters of Grace May 25th, 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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The Bible says that if anyone draws back, his soul doesn't
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have pleasure in him. But thank God, if we're really a
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child of God, we can't turn back forever, can we?
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God speaks to us, he humbles us, he breaks us, and he draws us
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back to himself, doesn't he? And all of us have a testimony
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of that, I'm sure. And each time that we come back,
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we come back with the strength and the vigor and a decisiveness
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that I'm no longer interested in, in heading back.
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Being a true child of God means that Jesus will never leave us.
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No matter how far we've backslidden, Jesus will break us
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down and draw us back to Him. There aren't enough excuses we
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can make that will keep Him away.
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Each time we come back, we must come back with a determination
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to no longer be interested in the excuses.
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Today, Pastor Clark teaches us that as believers, we have the
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Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, and he convicts us where we need
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correction, always pulling us back to him.
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Now. Here's Pastor Clark in
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Revelation chapter 20 with today's edition of Living Waters
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of Grace. Some of us are here and we
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unfortunately, if Christ tarries or some of us are taken out at
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what is called the rapture, the catching away.
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And those who are left behind that never committed themselves
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truly and fully to Jesus Christ, because of them lingering and
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missing that return of Christ and because of their love for
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the present world system, they will be deceived into taking the
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mark of the beast, the mark of the Antichrist.
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And some of you here today will perhaps end up taking that.
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That is not my prayer. It's not the Lord's Prayer.
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He's not willing that any should perish, but all that come, come
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to repentance. But things are going to get so
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bad during that tribulation that if you're left here with,
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without faith in Christ, you will be tempted and most likely
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moved to say, well, this doesn't make sense not to take this
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because if I don't get this identification code, I don't
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have any ability to access my bank accounts.
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I can't work at my job anymore. I can't buy food for my family.
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I'm going to get that mark. And the mark is the ultimate
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betrayal of of your soul to the devil.
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And once you take that mark of the beast, you'll never be able
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to withdraw from that commitment.
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Hebrews tells us about the subject of what we call the
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perseverance of the Saints. And if you're really gods today,
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if you really belong to him, if you've really been saved and
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your life has been radically transformed, you don't have to
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worry about being left behind and you don't have to worry
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about any kind of mark on your body that will represent your
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allegiance to Antichrist. It says therefore in verse 35 of
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Hebrews chapter 10. Therefore do not castaway your
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confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of
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endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you
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may receive the promise for yet a little while, and he who is
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coming will come and will not tarry.
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Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back,
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my soul shall have no pleasure in Him.
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But we are not of those who draw back to perdition or hell, but
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are those who believe to the saving of the soul.
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So we use this term sometimes backsliding.
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And we've all been there where we've been walking with the Lord
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and we've been following him. And then some events, some
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crisis, some temptation, some trial, some failing our life
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causes us to move away from the Lord.
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In other words, we we're like lot, we're lingering in an area
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that we shouldn't be hanging out in.
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Or perhaps some of us are, are like lot's wife that we're
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falling the Lord and and the devil's whispering in our ear.
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Well, you're missing out on this and you don't do this anymore
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and wasn't this good and, and all of a sudden you look back
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and Jesus is saying, if you're truly called to follow me in the
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Kingdom, you put your hand to the plow and you just keep going
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forward. You keep going forward.
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You're not going to look back anymore.
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And I've looked back different times in my life and I suffer
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the consequences of looking back when I was in Bible college as a
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young and I I'm dealing with the emotions of a young man and the
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instability and the weaknesses of my own will and the
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immaturity of my own walk with the Lord.
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And I'm in Bible college and I'm hearing about unreached people
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group people have never once heard the gospel.
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And I had this compulsion in my heart that want to be involved
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in going to reach people I've never heard.
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But you know, when I go out on weekends to visit families from
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the church we're attending nice houses, nice cars, nice careers.
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I'm thinking, Lord, why can't I be like one of those people?
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They love you, but they have, they sort of have the best of
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both worlds. They have you and they have the
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world at the same time, right. But there was this emptiness in
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them as I would meet with them because they sort of wanted what
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I wanted in the sense of being a missionary, but I sort of wanted
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what, what they had. You know what I mean?
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It was like a paradox. And I had this, this tension in
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between. And so I had my hand at a plow,
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but I was looking backwards and, and, and I, I caused myself to
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be put on a shelf for a period of time because, you know, the
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Lord can't use us if we're not totally committed, if we're,
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we're looking back and we still want what the world has to offer
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it. And the Lord says, well, I'll
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catch up with you later and you'll see the consequences of
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what that decision will be upon you.
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And so the Lord gave me my desires and I was able to, you
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know, achieve a certain amount of success in the world, but I
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paid a terrible sacrifice for that.
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I almost lost my marriage 39 years now married by the grace
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and only by the grace of God. I was in Bible college and I
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said, Clark, what are you doing, man?
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You know, I said, well, the Bible says if you don't have the
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material to finish the tower, it's better that you don't
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start. So I, I made-up all kind of
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excuses why I, I didn't think it was really worth being totally
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sold out to Jesus Christ. And as I said, I, I suffered the
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consequences. And the Bible says that if
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anyone draws back, his soul doesn't have pleasure in him.
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But thank God, if we're really a child of God, we can't turn back
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forever, can we? God speaks to us, he humbles us,
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he breaks us and he draws us back to himself, doesn't he?
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And all of us have a testimony of that, I'm sure.
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And each time that we come back, we come back with a strength and
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a vigor and a decisiveness that I'm no longer interested in and
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heading back. And I have a compassion and an
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understanding for people that have setbacks in their Christian
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lives. I don't judge because I've been
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there, but I want to be an example and also tell my story
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so that I might be able to prevent a young man like Cameron
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from going back into the world. And when we see people, our
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brothers and sisters, who are going back into the world, we
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need to pray for them. We need to admonish them and
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exhort them and warn them of the consequences of falling, because
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falling is a very, very horrible thing to do.
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Falling away from the Lord. He is no fool to lose what he
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cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.
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So at 45 years of age, we had some crises in our lives as a
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family, long given up any kind of hopes of ever being in the
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ministry. That was the last thing on my
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mind in my life. And my kids were going to a
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church that had this this youth thing they wanted to go to.
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So Cindy and I weren't going to any church at the time.
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So I figured, well, I'll go down there.
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And it wasn't my style church. It was just really hyper
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emotional and that kind of stuff.
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But there was an old time missionary that spoke and he was
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in his late 70s and he was talking about what life's really
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about and what's most important in life.
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And as you look at your life, you know, where is it today?
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And the Lord used this old missionary guy to really get to
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me. It was a revival called People
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Coming Back to God. And it started out, I think the
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first night there was like 2829 people.
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And then each night it went down and until the end, the last
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night, there was only a few of us there.
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And it was like God had this revival.
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That's for me. And so I went forward and I
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said, Lord, you know, I've just sort of wasted my years from the
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day I got saved and I was 20 up until my mid 40s now, I was in
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the churches for a long time. I was a Deacon and I teach a
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young married class. I was going through the motions.
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I was doing what was expected that I was, I was dying inside
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because I was, I was living for the world and I wasn't living
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for Christ. And people might have thought I
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was because I looked on the outside like I was, but I knew
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down deep inside that I was messed up.
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So I went on my face before the altar there and I just said,
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Lord, here's my life. I want to give it back to you.
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I understand that I've wasted a lot of years.
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And if by chance you would give me an opportunity to have things
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made right with you today, I'll do whatever it is that you want
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me to do in the days ahead. Oh, God began to stir my heart
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again and do something in me. And I'd had no interest in being
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a pastor or anything or making any kind of great promises of
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God. It was like a baby step.
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I had no idea other than I'm just surrendering my will to the
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Lord. My daughter's telling all her
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friends, I have a new dad. I wasn't like his horrible
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father. I mean, I cared, you know.
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But all of a sudden I'm, I'm compelled again to be the father
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of my home that I need to be and the husband I need to be to lead
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my family in the ways of God. I'd sort of checked out on that.
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You know, I've depended on the church to do it for me, right?
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The youth group to do it for me. Some of you guys know what I'm
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talking about. And so one thing led to the next
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The Lord put on our heart about this church plant to be a
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ministry of restoration and reconciliation for ruined lives,
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which Cindy and I had. That God can restore the years
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that the locust has eaten, that there's not one of us here that
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has fallen so far that we're away from the outstretched arms
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of God calling us back to Himself and to draw us to
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Himself. And I know the people that God
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calls it his church are people that are broken in, contrite and
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desiring His will. Now, as we see in Revelation
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chapter 4, that there will be these people that will not take
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the mark of the beast, and because of that, they'll be
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martyred. Now for us who are raptured out
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of here, we're going to miss the real hell, the tribulation.
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We're going to be taken out. God's wrath will not come upon
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His church, but there will be people during that tribulation
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that will be saved, that will be anointed by God to be witnesses,
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and they will refuse to take the mark of the beast.
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And because of that, they will be beheaded.
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They will be beheaded and martyred.
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Verse 5 it says, But the rest of the dead did not live again
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until the thousand years were finished.
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This is the first resurrection. Blessed is he who has part in
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the first resurrection over such the second death has no power,
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but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
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with him 1000 years. Now we think of the Old
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Testament Saints. Whenever Jesus was crucified, it
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says in Ephesians, he went into the lower parts of the earth to
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lead captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
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So Hades is split into two sections.
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You have hell and you have paradise.
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The Old Testament Saints were in paradise waiting for the
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finished work of Christ at the cross and his resurrection.
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As Christ rose from a dead, He went in there and released as
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captive in the bosom of Abraham, and brought them into the
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Kingdom with him. That they take part in the first
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resurrection, it tells us in First Corinthians, I believe.
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Let me just double check here. Yeah, First Corinthians chapter
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15, verse 20. It says now Christ has risen
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from the dead, and he became the first fruits of those who have
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fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by
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man also came the resurrection of the dead.
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For as an Adam all die, Even so in Christ all shall be made
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alive, but each one in his own order.
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Christ is the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ
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at his coming. Then comes the end, when He
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delivers the Kingdom of God to the Father, when He puts an end
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to all role and all authority and power, for He must reign
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till he has put all enemies under his feet.
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The last enemy will be destroyed, which is death.
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So when Christ rose from the dead, you remember in the
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gospels where it talked about the people that came out of the
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graves mystery, they were taking part as Christ is the first
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fruit of the first resurrection. He's the 1st.
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And then the Old Testament Saints of the bosom of Abraham,
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those who were resurrected out of the graves during the time of
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his resurrection in the Gospels. And then we have those of us who
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will be raptured and taken into the Kingdom of heaven.
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We're taking part as the first fruits of the first
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resurrection. And then we have those, those
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Saints in the tribulation period who were beheaded that Christ
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will bring forth into life again, and they'll rule and
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reign with him in that millennial Kingdom.
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The first fruits taking part in the first resurrection with our
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new bodies, all those who are redeemed will be raised up.
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The second resurrection doesn't occur until the end of the
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millennial Kingdom after the 1000 years.
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And if you're here today and you're not saved, you won't take
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part in the first resurrection. Unfortunately, you'll have to
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deal with the second resurrection.
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And the second resurrection is not a resurrection you want to
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take part in because all those who are raised out of the graves
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are being raised for the final judgment where the Bible says
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the book will be open and the Lamb's book of life.
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And whosoever's name is not found written in the Lamb's Book
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of life will be cast into the lake of fire.
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It's the resurrection of judgment.
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And So what will this millennial Kingdom be like as we begin to
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conclude here in this chapter today, chapter 20?
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Well, there'll be peace. There'll be no more war.
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Isaiah Chapter 11 If we flip over there for a minute, there's
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a few verses here. Isaiah Chapter 11 verse 6
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through 9. It says the wolf shall dwell
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with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with
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the young cat, goat, the calf and the young lion and the fat
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lean together, and the little child shall lead them.
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The cow and the bear shall graze.
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The young one shall lie down together.
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The lion shall eat straw like the ox.
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A nursing child shall play by the cobras hole.
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The wean shall shall put his hand in the viper's den.
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They shall not hurt nor destroy at all.
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My holy. A mountain for the earth shall
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be full. The knowledge of the Lord as the
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waters cover the sea. Imagine that, having a baby
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today and letting your baby play with a snake.
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No one in their right mind would do that, right?
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Well, during the millennial Kingdom, the snakes will be
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friends. They won't hurt anybody.
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There won't be any ravenous lion.
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It's going to come and attack anybody.
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I mean, it's just perfect peace. There'll be incredible happiness
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and Isaiah 12 three. Therefore with joy you will draw
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water from the wells of salvation.
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You'll have long life and health.
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Isaiah chapter 33 verse 24. This is a precursor to the
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Kingdom that'll reign forever and ever, and the inhabitant
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will not say I am sick. The people who dwell in it will
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be forgiven their iniquity. There will be a time of
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incredible prosperity on the earth.
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Not like the prosperity teachers are teaching today that self
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fulfilling, self willed prosperity.
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This prosperity will come from the throne of God.
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It says in Isaiah 35 verse one. The wilderness and the wasteland
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shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom
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as a rose. It shall blossom abundantly and
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rejoice even with joy in singing.
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The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it.
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The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
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They shall see the glory, the Lord, the Excellency of our God,
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prosperity. And then there will be joy in
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our employment. And unlike today, many of us are
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working, the Bible says, with a sweat of our brow.
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And there's a lot of aggravation and tension in the job markets
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today. But in the days of the
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millennial Kingdom, and it says they shall build houses and
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inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and
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eat their fruit. They shall not build and another
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inhabit. They shall not plant and another
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eat. For as a days of a tree, so
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shall be the days of my people, and my elects shall long enjoy
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the work of their hands. How glorious that will be.
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And our inheritance will be an inheritance for those who are
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truly born again. If you flip over to Romans
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chapter 828, we know the Bible says all things work together
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for good to those who love God, and are called according to His
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purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He
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also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He
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might be the first born among many brethren.
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Moreover, whom He predestined, these He called, and those He
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called, those He justified, Whom He justified He also glorified.
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What then shall we say to these things?
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If God is for us, who can be against us?
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He who did not spare His own Son, referring to Jesus, but
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delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
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freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against
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God's elect? It is God who justifies, who is
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he who condemns? It is Christ who died and
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furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of
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God, who also makes intercession for us.
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It tells us over in first Peter, if you flip over there first
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Peter chapter 2, as this ends in Revelation chapter 20, verse 5,
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referring to the priesthood. You know, the Catholic Church
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teaches about a priesthood and the Orthodox Church, some of
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these other churches teach about the priesthood.
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So the priests are here and all of us are down here, right?
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And we have to go to the priest to get absolution for our sins
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or go to the priest to be our mediator between God and man.
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That's not biblical. The Bible tells us there's one
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mediator between God and man. Who's that?
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The man Christ Jesus. I'm sorry, but man can't help
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you. You don't have faith and
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dependence on the legs of a man. You have faith in the Lord.
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Godly men will point you to Jesus Christ as your intercess.
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We can pray for one another and God answers the prayers of His
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righteous faithful servants, but Christ is the one who mediates.
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I was here with Cameron and Cameron was being convicted by
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the Lord to come to Christ. I sat on my knees here before
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the Lord. Lord, you alone are the mediator
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between the Father and between Cameron.
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You're the one who has to save him.
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You're the one who has to reach into his life and show him his
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lostness, his sin. I can tell him, but unless the
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Spirit shows him, he won't know why he needs to be saved.
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And if you're here today, only God can show you you're lost.
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All of us have to come to a point in our life to know that
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we're lost and we need a Savior. And once you know you're lost,
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then you know you need to be found.
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The one who can save you is Jesus Christ, the righteous one.
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It tells us in first Peter 9 that you're a chosen generation.
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This is referring to us here today who are part of God's
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family, the Christian, the born again, a royal priesthood, a
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holy nation, His own special people that you may proclaim the
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praises of Him who's called you out of darkness into his
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marvelous light, who once were not a people.
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Meaning one time we weren't part of this family, we weren't part
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of his Kingdom, but are now the people of God who had not
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obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
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As we study the Book of Revelation, we study it for two
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reasons, to learn what it's what's going to happen in the
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last days or we're not living in fear and we have confidence in
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God's promises. But we also teach this book
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because we know there are people here who are lost in any given
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church and there are people here today that need to come to
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Christ to see him as their only hope of forgiveness and
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salvation. It tells us in First Timothy 2,
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as it says, there is only one mediator between God and man,
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the man Christ Jesus. He desires all men, all people
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to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
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There's not one of you here today that God does not love and
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doesn't want you to get saved. When I was beside Cameron here,
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I said, Cameron, you have to come to the Lord yourself.
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I can't do it for you. So I just encourage you to pray
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to him from your own heart, what best you know to say.
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And when I heard him opening his heart to God and speaking to
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God, I knew that God was taking him from death to life, from
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darkness into the beautiful glory of his Kingdom.
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And he just shared very simply, Lord, I know I'm a Sinner.
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You know, Lord, I've been around the block a few times, as we all
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have, and as only a Sinner could cry to a merciful God, he did,
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and God radically saved him and changed his life for all
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eternity. If you're here today and you
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have not experienced the saving grace and love and work of the
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gospel of Jesus Christ, I encourage you to come forward
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today. If you're here with someone you
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know wants to come, come with them, take their hand and come
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with them and pray because God wants to save you.
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You don't want to be left here in this time of impending
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tribulation that will soon come upon the world where you'll be
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so propelled and so compelled to take that mark of the beast that
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you'll be lost for all eternity. If you're here today and you
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know that you're lingering and the world, and the world has
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part of you and the Lord has part of you and you're wrestling
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and you're tired of walking in two places.
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You want to walk and the ways of God.
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You've had it with the world. You don't want it to influence
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you anymore. You don't want it to direct you.
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You don't want it to oppress you or control you.
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You want to be set free from the influences of that world.
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I encourage you to make a prayerful commitment that you
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surrender your life anew and afresh to God so that He can you
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for the purpose of why He created you.
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This has been Living Waters of Grace with Pastor Clark.
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We're going through the challenging and also intriguing
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Book of Revelation. Whether you're a fan of reading
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ahead in books of fiction, there's such a benefit to
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reading ahead in the Bible to read about how it all ends.
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But in an interesting turn of events, the Book of Revelation
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is not really the end, but rather the beginning.
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It's the end of life as we know it here on earth, but there's so
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much to look forward to. But what comes after all?
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The judgement of the earth and those who reject God?
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There's a lot to work through, and it can be heartbreaking to
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read through the intense judgements and wrath that will
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come on those who hate God with all their might.
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The thing is, God has given chance upon chance to these
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people and they don't want it. So the outcome is that there are
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judgments and consequences for those who've rejected the good
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news and the gift of salvation that's offered through Jesus's
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death and resurrection. Are you one who has heard about
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these things but doesn't really want it because you want to live
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life on your terms? Trust me, living for Jesus is so
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much better. That doesn't mean it will be
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easy. As you listen and read through
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Revelation with us, you'll come to a stark realization that you
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don't want to be on Earth when the apocalypse happens.
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So check out Calvary Chapel online.com to learn how to come
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to a saving grace through faith that will allow you to be with
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Jesus for eternity. We'd also love to meet you in
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person at Calvary Chapel Westmoreland and join us at 400
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E Pittsburgh St. Ste. 6B in Greensburg, PA 15601.
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This has been living Waters of Grace.