Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Living Waters of Grace, March 17th, 2026
Transcript
- 0:03This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
- 0:08Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
- 0:12County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
- 0:16continues teaching through God's Word.
- 0:37Why would we want to hurt one another?
- 0:38Why would we want to say evil things about one another?
- 0:42Why would we want to be unforgiving and bitter and
- 0:46hateful and spiteful and lustful and, and just all these
- 0:51characteristics that come out of the depraved human heart when
- 0:56God is the way he is and we see him in that throne room and
- 1:00pictured as the Holy One who loves us and.
- 1:04Who's given everything for us? Last time on Living Waters of
- 1:08Grace, Pastor Clark shared with us how Jesus is called the Lamb
- 1:11of God. We learned that Jesus was called
- 1:14the Lamb of God because of the correlation to the Passover
- 1:17lamb. Today, Pastor Clark will focus
- 1:19on the love of God that was displayed through the life of
- 1:22Jesus and this should be our example.
- 1:25Our lives, like the life of Jesus, should be for the sake of
- 1:29others. Our love for God should be seen
- 1:33in how we love the people around us, including those we might
- 1:37define as enemies. Now here's Pastor Clark in
- 1:40Revelation Chapter 5 with today's edition of Living Waters
- 1:44of Grace. And no one in heaven are on
- 1:47earth or under the. Earth was able to.
- 1:49Open the scroll or. To look at it and the reason
- 1:53that is, is that. We're all sinful people.
- 1:56There's only one. That has the power and the
- 1:58ability and the right to cast judgment.
- 2:01Right now, you and I aren't to judge.
- 2:03The Bible says judge not lest she be judged.
- 2:06One of my prayers every day is Lord help me to judge my own
- 2:09sins. And not the sins of my brothers
- 2:12and sisters. It's easy for us to judge, but
- 2:15our judgments have no power. They have no authority.
- 2:19And I'm not talking about the judgments.
- 2:21Of sin or church discipline those have been given to us that
- 2:24authority by. The word of God.
- 2:27But in regard. To judging sinful people, well,
- 2:31this person deserves to go to. Hell, because of.
- 2:34This and this and that. Well, if that's the case, we all
- 2:36deserve to go to hell, right? There's none of us that are
- 2:39worthy. Praise God that when you look at
- 2:42someone who's messed up that your heart would pray for the
- 2:45Lord. To save them and.
- 2:46Work in their lives as he's worked in yours, and that you
- 2:49wouldn't be casting judgment. But John's weeping.
- 2:52This was so broken understanding that we are so unholy.
- 2:57Compared to the greatness. Of our God our.
- 3:00Savior Jesus Christ. In John 87 it says He that is
- 3:04without sin among you, let him. Cast the first stone.
- 3:10Who of us here today can pick up a stone and throw it at each
- 3:13other? None of us.
- 3:15God's our judge the Scripture. Reminds us about this.
- 3:21Picture of the scepter. Of God's righteousness.
- 3:25That only is given to the one. From the tribe of Judah, Jesus
- 3:31Christ himself in Genesis. 44910 It says a scepter shall not
- 3:37depart from. Judah, nor a lawgiver from
- 3:39between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the
- 3:44gathering. Of the people be.
- 3:46And we see that verse 4 says he wept so much that no one was
- 3:51found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it.
- 3:54But one of the elders said to me, do not.
- 3:56Weep, behold the lion. Of the tribe of Judah, the root
- 3:59of David has prevailed to open the scroll and to lucid 7 seals.
- 4:03And so the the beauty of this is Jesus isn't only the descendant.
- 4:08Of the throne of. David.
- 4:10But he's the one who established the throne before the earth was
- 4:14made. So David truly is a descendant
- 4:16of our Savior, the Messiah Jesus.
- 4:19Christ, but in Jesus humanity he is a descendant of this lineage.
- 4:24Through David. 'S father, Jesse.
- 4:27And the Messiah is. This word Shiloh is taken from
- 4:32the word. Meaning Messiah, and he takes
- 4:35the scepter the. Symbol of the right.
- 4:38To govern, There's only one that has the authority to govern the
- 4:40universe and the whole. World and that's our Savior
- 4:44Jesus Christ and all those in the.
- 4:46Line of Judah David. And Solomon and Rehoboam were.
- 4:50Actually kings from the line of Judah, but Jesus himself is.
- 4:55Truly the king of. Kings and the Lord of Lords that
- 4:58was preordained and prophesized by the Old Testament Saints and
- 5:03the Prophets. In Acts 13 is an interesting
- 5:07verse that ties into this if you got your.
- 5:09Bible to flip over there to Acts 13, it's amazing.
- 5:12How all these things connect together.
- 5:15Acts 13 verse 22 and 23 it says. And when he had removed him, he
- 5:21raised up for them David as king, to whom also he gave
- 5:25testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man
- 5:29after my own heart, who will do my will from this man's seed.
- 5:35Referring to David, according to the promise God raised up for
- 5:39Israel a Savior Jesus. And so Jesus is.
- 5:43This one that's being. Spoken about in the Book of
- 5:46Revelation, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of
- 5:50David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven
- 5:54seals. Jesus is seen as he looks in
- 5:58verse 6. And behold, in the midst of the
- 6:00throne, and are the four living creatures.
- 6:02Into the midst of the elder stood a lamb as though it had
- 6:05been slain, having 7 horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
- 6:09spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
- 6:12Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who
- 6:15sat on the throne. Again, when we study the Book of
- 6:20Revelation. Some of these things are quite
- 6:22graphic and strange. You know that we would think,
- 6:24OK, here's here's the Lord here referred to as a lamb, the Lamb
- 6:28of God. Who taketh away the?
- 6:30Sin of the world. That's what John the Baptist
- 6:32said whenever he saw Jesus walking at him.
- 6:34He said, behold, the Lamb of God.
- 6:36Now Jesus was not coming down the road as a lamb, but he's
- 6:41pictured in type and the old. Testament is a Passover.
- 6:44Lamb that he is the true Lamb of God that has the ability to take
- 6:50away the sins of the world. Well, John is.
- 6:54Giving us a. Picture as though.
- 6:57It had been slain and he's describing what he's seeing in
- 7:01this this vision and the lion is referring to the one who judges
- 7:07the sins of the ungodly, the lion of the tribe of Judah.
- 7:11And the seven horns represent the complete omnipotent power of
- 7:15God. 7 is always a number of completeness and perfection.
- 7:19The seven eyes show the. Omniscience of God, that God is
- 7:23all seeing. He's everywhere present.
- 7:25And knows all things I mean today he.
- 7:27Looks into your heart and mine. He sees it all.
- 7:30We can't see each other's hearts.
- 7:32But God sees it all. He's receiving now, taking into
- 7:36his own hands the title. D to the universe, the beautiful
- 7:40picture. Is that only the father has the
- 7:43authority? To give this.
- 7:44Scroll and only the Son has the power and the authority to
- 7:50receive it, no one else. And what happens in verse 8 when
- 7:54he takes this scroll the the living creatures, the four
- 7:58creatures and the 24 elders, they fall down before the lamb.
- 8:02They fall down and adore him and worship him do.
- 8:06You ever experience in your life?
- 8:09I'm sure you have certain times in your life.
- 8:12And I sense that at times here when our worship team leads us,
- 8:15and sometimes I just want to throw myself on my face on the
- 8:19ground. And I would tell you that that
- 8:21would never be inappropriate here.
- 8:23If you ever are inclined to get on your knees during the
- 8:27worship, there's nothing wrong with that.
- 8:30And it isn't body language that gets the heart of God, it's our
- 8:33heart. I mean we could be on our knees
- 8:35and our heart could be 1,000,000 miles from God, but what God
- 8:38wants is those who worship Him in spirit and truth.
- 8:41And sometimes our physical ways about us represent what's going
- 8:44on in our heart. Whether we raise our hands or
- 8:47bow on our knees. But I find that in my home, in
- 8:49my own prayer closet, that's where I'm most comfortable
- 8:53getting on my face with God, right?
- 8:55No one can judge me saying, why is he doing that?
- 8:57Is he trying to be spiritual or trying to act like he's
- 9:00something? No, but God sees me alone,
- 9:02right? And at times I'm just thrown to
- 9:05to be on my. Face before the Lord.
- 9:07And that's what's happening here.
- 9:09All this. Beauty.
- 9:10Can you imagine? Seeing the Lord Jesus grabbing
- 9:13this, taking the scroll. And his hand from the father,
- 9:16and knowing there as John knows that he's the.
- 9:19Only one that's. Worthy and the elders see.
- 9:22Worthy as a lamb. And the creatures that God has
- 9:26manifests and created, they're worshipping.
- 9:29It's astounding. It's overwhelming.
- 9:30How could one not be on their face?
- 9:33Before the Lord. And I love this part here which
- 9:37says they have these golden balls full of incense which are
- 9:40the prayers of the Saints. All the prayers that you and I
- 9:43have sent up to the Kingdom since we've known the Lord.
- 9:47Many of. Them are still unanswered, but I
- 9:49believe one day that God will take those prayers that we've
- 9:52given to him and and bring a conclusion to those prayers.
- 9:56Some of the answers will be yes, some of the answers will be no.
- 10:00But one of the big. Answers.
- 10:01That He will give us is the prayer that the Lord gave his
- 10:05disciples, where He said our. Father who art in.
- 10:08Heaven hallowed be thy name thy. Kingdom come on earth as it is
- 10:14in. Heaven, this is the.
- 10:15Beginning of the. Kingdom of God eventually coming
- 10:19to this earth and being established in in Jerusalem and
- 10:23Jesus will roll with an iron hand for a. 1000 years and
- 10:26forever and ever and ever and we'll roll with him.
- 10:29But the beauty of this incense of the prayers of the Saints are
- 10:34like sweet smelling incense to his heart, is that the prayers
- 10:38that you and I give up to the Lord are never forgotten by God
- 10:42and God. Has those prayers.
- 10:44They're not wasted. I I find it amazing that all the
- 10:48prayers are put in a bowl. Not one of them are worthless.
- 10:53Not one of them to God are senseless or.
- 10:56Unimportant and it. Says they're going to sing a new
- 11:00song in verse 9, a new song they're going to sing not
- 11:04something they remember when they sang the Hellel songs in
- 11:07the Psalms of the Old Testament that were very symbolic of the
- 11:11nation of Israel and worship to God or in the in the in the
- 11:15garden at the time that Jesus was.
- 11:17Being. Prepared to give his life There
- 11:19was some hymns that were sung but this is a brand new song and
- 11:25you know Rick and the. Guys, if they wanted to, they
- 11:27could write the music to the song.
- 11:30You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
- 11:34for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your
- 11:37blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
- 11:41and it made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign
- 11:45on the earth. That's a brand new song.
- 11:49You know when the gospel goes out and we support missionaries,
- 11:53especially some. Who are in unreached?
- 11:55People groups like the Dawsons in Venezuela, the beauty of
- 11:59missions and the beauty of being involved.
- 12:01As a. Church in Missions is that we
- 12:03are all part of what's happening.
- 12:05On the mission field here from this local church and as they
- 12:08are out there laboring and being faithful to give the gospel and
- 12:11and these. Tribal Indians come to know the
- 12:13Lord. They'll be in the Kingdom of
- 12:16heaven one day at the same table that you and I will be.
- 12:19At the marriage supper of the lamb.
- 12:21It says there will be representatives there from every
- 12:24tongue, every language group, every tribe, every people in
- 12:28every. Nation.
- 12:30No sectarianism in heaven, No prejudice believers made-up of
- 12:35every tongue. Tribe, kindred and nation.
- 12:39And they'll sing this new song. You have redeemed us, He has
- 12:43bought us with His blood, and now we see that there is true
- 12:47dominion because He's making us kings and priests to our God,
- 12:51and we shall reign on the earth. That's hard to fathom that
- 12:56whenever we come. Back with.
- 12:58Christ at the second coming that we're going to have positions of
- 13:01authority in the earth during that 1000 years.
- 13:04We're going to. Have roll and reign.
- 13:07As kings and priests for our God on the face of the earth.
- 13:11I don't know some of you you. You might be.
- 13:13The new mayor of. Greensburg or something, I don't
- 13:15know, but we're going to have amazing titles and, and just to
- 13:19encourage you, there is no one unimportant.
- 13:21In the body of Christ. Guys, there is no one here and
- 13:24no one down here. We're all the same.
- 13:26Christ is ahead and He loves us and accepts us the same way.
- 13:32There's no one insignificant. We are precious in His sight, so
- 13:38precious that even the very hairs of our head are numbered.
- 13:41He has a specific purpose for you during that millennial
- 13:44reign, already chosen, already picked out, already described to
- 13:49fit your temperament, your personality, how God's made you
- 13:52and created you to be. You're not to be like me and I'm
- 13:55not to be like you. We're all different and unique
- 13:58and. Precious in his sight, the body
- 14:01of Christ. Not one member can say to the
- 14:03other member I have. No need of you can we?
- 14:06We all need each other and the parts that seem to be the less.
- 14:10Important in the eyes. Of man, God.
- 14:12Chooses them to be. The most important, the most
- 14:16quietest, loving, godly, meek, prayerful person in our church
- 14:22is seen by God to be so much greater than the person who's
- 14:26speaking and talking all the time.
- 14:28The Kingdom is upside down, isn't it?
- 14:31The world looks for. Fame and fortune and.
- 14:33Personality and popularity, and the Kingdom of God looks for
- 14:36humility and meekness. And quietness.
- 14:41And so we see these songs being sung.
- 14:44And the true dominion is beautiful because as God
- 14:47intended this world to be when he created Adam and Eve, one day
- 14:51it'll be. Restored to that place that it
- 14:54was. Before the fall and that
- 14:56original part of creation where? God had that beautiful.
- 15:00Garden and that scene. Where?
- 15:03Man and woman could talk to God audibly and they could hear his
- 15:06voice and all the heavenly hosts.
- 15:08In verse 11 it says I heard the voice of many angels around the
- 15:12throne and living creatures and the elders, and the numbers of
- 15:15them were 10,000 * 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying
- 15:20with a loud voice, Worthy is a lamb who is slain to receive
- 15:23power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and
- 15:27blessing. How many have the new King James
- 15:30Version in here? Read Raise your hand.
- 15:32I want you to read this with me in unison.
- 15:35Worthy is a lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and
- 15:40wisdom and strength and honor and.
- 15:43Glory and blessing. We have maybe 30 people that
- 15:47read that with me. OK?
- 15:48Can you imagine 10,000 * 10,000 the myriad of angels and the
- 15:53heavenly hosts? It's going to be this deafening
- 15:56the sound. And the glory of God.
- 15:59True dominion where Christ will. Truly reign and roll and we will
- 16:04roll with him and this heavenly host in verse 11.
- 16:07They're going to break out and this voice and John hears this
- 16:12and the wicked. Will no.
- 16:13Longer have an opportunity to prosper as the judgment is about
- 16:18to be poured out on the earth. The Dominion of the.
- 16:21Evil one will be destroyed. In other words, the title.
- 16:24Deed of the Earth. Right now, the enemy.
- 16:26Is the Prince of the power? Of the air.
- 16:28He's the small G God of this. World that has.
- 16:32A degree of dominion for a period of.
- 16:33Time only under the authority. Of God, but.
- 16:37One day he will have, absolutely.
- 16:39No more influence and no more. Ability to dominate.
- 16:43The evil one will be destroyed. Now we.
- 16:45Look at the. Throne of God and all these
- 16:48angelic beings. And angels are very, very
- 16:51fascinating because they're here with us today.
- 16:54We can't see them. But they're in our.
- 16:56Midst they're listening. The Bible says that every time
- 16:59the Word is preached, the angels are in anticipation of wanting
- 17:02to hear. Something new to learn.
- 17:04Something more the heavenly host.
- 17:06I love the artwork of the picture of the.
- 17:09Mother and father at the bed. Of their child.
- 17:11And they're praying and asking God to work in their.
- 17:14Heart of their. Children so that they'll come to
- 17:16know the. Lord and the Evil.
- 17:18One is wanting to come in and just destroy the.
- 17:20Family, but the heavenly. Hosts The Archangels are
- 17:23surrounding outside the window and they're.
- 17:26Preventing evil and ungodliness and and darkness to enter into
- 17:30the life of. The family as the parents are
- 17:32praying for their home and for their family and for their.
- 17:35Children, what a beautiful, beautiful picture.
- 17:38But you have these three spheres of heaven.
- 17:40Paul was taken up into that place where John was, and he saw
- 17:44things he said he couldn't even describe with human words.
- 17:48But we have in that first realm the Seraphim and the Cherifim.
- 17:53And the Thrones, the principalities of God that are.
- 17:58Designated to be in that particular domain of heaven,
- 18:01they're the. Guardians.
- 18:02Of the throne of. Guard of God.
- 18:05And the second sphere is. We read about this in Ephesians
- 18:08and the. Chapter 6 about the the weapons
- 18:11of. Our warfare and the armor of
- 18:14God. The dominions, the virtues
- 18:17meaning the might and the powers.
- 18:19They're the heavenly governors of the Kingdom.
- 18:21And then the third sphere is the Principalities, the Archangels
- 18:24and the Angels. And these are the ones that are
- 18:26the messengers. They're the ones that take the
- 18:29message out to the far ends of the Earth, and they're.
- 18:32Also the soldiers. They're.
- 18:34Guarding you and me. Today I love what?
- 18:36It says in. Hebrews about the angels, are
- 18:38they not ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them
- 18:42who are the heirs of salvation? You have a guardian Angel.
- 18:45I do too. And I think many times my
- 18:48guardian Angel is saying, why did you assign me to Clark?
- 18:51You know, he's just been a real problem.
- 18:53I'll have to apologize to my Angel when I get to the Kingdom
- 18:56one day for the things he's had to put up with me.
- 18:58But the good news is, is that God has assigned angelic beings.
- 19:03To watch over you and to protect you.
- 19:06And then the last two verses and as we finish this chapter says
- 19:09in every creature in verse 13 which is in heaven and on earth
- 19:13and and under the earth, and as such are in the.
- 19:16Sea and all that. Are in them are heard saying the
- 19:20amazing thing the Bible. Says Jesus talks about the
- 19:24descendants and the people who were proud because they were of
- 19:28the lineage of David. And Jesus tells them that, you
- 19:31know, I could cause these rocks to rejoice and praise me if I
- 19:35wanted to. The whole creation.
- 19:37It says in Romans. Is waiting in earnest
- 19:39expectation to praise and magnify God.
- 19:44Waiting for the culmination of these things that we're studying
- 19:47about in Revelation. And they're saying blessing and
- 19:51honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne, and
- 19:55to the Lamb forever and ever glorifying.
- 19:59The Lamb of God and the. Father, the four living
- 20:03creatures, the 24 elders, and the numerous angels and all the
- 20:07creatures of the universe, worshipping and giving.
- 20:10Glory to God. And then the four living
- 20:15creatures said Amen, It's. Good to say.
- 20:18Amen. Amen.
- 20:19We can say. Amen.
- 20:20They say it in heaven. We can say it here on earth too.
- 20:23So be it. Lord and the 24 elders fell down
- 20:26and worshipped Him. Who lives?
- 20:28Forever and ever. So this scene.
- 20:31That we're studying today is a prelude to the righteous
- 20:34judgments from a holy God, which will begin to erupt.
- 20:38Upon those still on the earth who have refused God's mercy and
- 20:42love, holding on to their. Sin and rebellion against God
- 20:46it's hard to fathom we. Hear these things today.
- 20:50And God knows our hearts and some of us might be here today
- 20:54and think, well, who cares? So what?
- 20:57What's this mean to me? Well, if you're a believer in.
- 21:01Christ, you wouldn't. Say that this means everything
- 21:04to you. It's God's love letter to you,
- 21:07His promises to you, but He's prepared for you.
- 21:11But if you're lost and you can't see, this is bizarre.
- 21:14It's strange, it's confusing, it's not drawing because you
- 21:22hold on to something that has got you in bondage and that's
- 21:27your. Sin and your rebellion.
- 21:29Of wanting to. Have your own way.
- 21:33And be part. Of the crowd that says.
- 21:35We will not have this man to. Rule over us.
- 21:37Let's crucify Him and we crucify Christ by our own sin.
- 21:43As unbelievers, we basically are still driving nails into Him,
- 21:48hating Him for what he represents and what he came to
- 21:51do. Why would we want to do that to
- 21:53the one who loves us so much that he gave us his only
- 21:57begotten Son? Why would we want to hurt one
- 22:00another? Why would we want to say evil
- 22:02things about one another? Why would we want to be
- 22:06unforgiving and bitter and hateful and spiteful and lustful
- 22:11and, and this all these characteristics that come out of
- 22:14the depraved human heart when God is the way he is and we see
- 22:19him in that throne room and pictured is the Holy One who
- 22:24loves us and has given everything for us.
- 22:28And John sees what it cost him when he's giving this vision to
- 22:34the people that are listening and those who us today who are
- 22:37hearing it. And where do we fit in with all
- 22:40this? Where?
- 22:41Where do we? Belong.
- 22:43Do we belong in that room, that throne room with John?
- 22:47Are we still on the outside looking in?
- 22:50That's what we have to ask ourselves today.
- 22:53And the heart is deep. The Bible says it's a very, very
- 22:57unwielding part of the human psyche.
- 23:01The heart is a vessel that is hard.
- 23:07It is rebellious. The Bible tells us it's
- 23:11desperately wicked, and it's only the.
- 23:14Lord, who can? Try our hearts and know our
- 23:16thoughts, right? And so I'd like to just conclude
- 23:20today and giving the Lord again the opportunity to examine our
- 23:25hearts. To see where.
- 23:27We are with these wonderful things of God, will we?
- 23:32Walk away from this. Today.
- 23:33And just think, So what? Or will we walk away and a
- 23:36deeper appreciation of the majesty and the greatness and
- 23:40the glory and the dominion and the authority of our Lord.
- 23:44That's what I pray will be a case for all of us.
- 23:49We are digging into the Book of Revelation here on Living Waters
- 23:52of Grace. Pastor Clark is tackling this
- 23:55challenging book as we try to discern the messages that are
- 23:59within its pages. There's so much imagery and at
- 24:03times you're not always sure what's literal and what's
- 24:06metaphorical. At one point there's a reference
- 24:09to an adulterous woman riding on a beast.
- 24:13And as someone else mentioned, at one point it almost sounds
- 24:16like a rodeo from hell. And in actuality it kind of is.
- 24:21You learn about the downfall and demise of a sinful and
- 24:25rebellious world, falling down in worship to someone who is the
- 24:29anti hero, the enemy, Satan working his insidious ways into
- 24:36the minds of fallen people. It's sad and it's heartbreaking,
- 24:40but it's a classic story of good versus evil.
- 24:45Thankfully, we know how this story ends.
- 24:48Jesus wins, Jesus reigns, and evil is conquered once and for
- 24:55all. We pray and trust you've
- 24:57received Jesus as your Savior. But if you haven't, don't wait
- 25:02until the events in Revelation become what's happening on the
- 25:06streets. None of us wants you to be there
- 25:09at that time. Instead, we'd love for you to be
- 25:13with us in heaven as we celebrate the marriage supper
- 25:17with Jesus as his bridegroom. To get a better understanding of
- 25:23where we are in the Book of Revelation, to listen to any
- 25:26messages before or after this one, you can find them at our
- 25:31website, calvarychapelonline.com.
- 25:35That's it for today's edition, but we hope you'll want to hear
- 25:38Pastor Clark teach more from the Book of Revelation.
- 25:42It can be exciting to think about the future for believers,
- 25:46but it can feel a bit harrowing for those who don't believe.
- 25:49Come hear more next time on Living Waters of Grace.