Sermon
Living Waters of Grace for May 14th, 2026
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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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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Consequences of believing a lie. That's why the apostle Paul
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every time we take the Lord's Supper, he says to examine
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yourself, whether you're in the faith every time that supper
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goes around, would the God, if any of us here are posers and
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we're not Christians, that we would take that we would examine
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ourselves and we'd hear the Spirit of God say you're still
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lost, you're phony, you need to get saved.
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And if you hear that, be thankful that he's shown you
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that you are in delusion. It's not enough to speak
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spiritually or to fill your head with knowledge of the Lord and
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just His Word. Being a believer, true in faith
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is something that we feel in our hearts.
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It's the difference between merely performing outward
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displays of what we think a Christian should look like and
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walking in close, continual relationship with the Lord.
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Today, Pastor Clark teaches us that true faith is what changes
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us from the inside out, molding us and shaping us into the
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people God intended us to be. Now here's Pastor Clark in
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Revelation Chapter 19 with today's edition of Living Waters
Revelation 19 chapter mention
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of Grace. Revelation 19, Verse 11.
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Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a White Horse.
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And he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in
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righteousness he judges and makes war.
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His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many
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crowns. He had a name written that no
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one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe
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dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
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And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and
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clean, followed him on white horses.
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Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he
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should strike the nations, and he himself will roll them with
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the rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress
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of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, And he has on his
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robe and on his sigh a name written King of kings and Lord
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of Lords. Now if you look in Revelation
Revelation 19 chapter mention
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chapter 19 and you see in verse 8, and this is referring to the
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marriage supper of the Lamb that we studied about several weeks
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ago. And This Is Us who are in heaven
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at this particular time, the wonderful time where he says I
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so long to eat of this bread and drink this cup, but I won't do
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it again until we're all together in heaven.
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And so the celebration of the marriage supper of the Lamb is
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the first time in history after Christ's ascension that he'll
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partake of this supper with his bride.
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What a glorious day that'll be. We're all going to have that
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privilege to be there if we're believers and celebrate that
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time. And not only will we have this
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privilege of celebrating this wonderful, glorious supper, but
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he says it'll be granted to us. It will be arrayed in fine
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linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts
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of the Saints. And so the Lord will cover us
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with his glory, with his brightness, with his
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righteousness. And we'll all be sitting around
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white as snow, pure, no sin, no problems anymore, no difficulty
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with struggles in this world because we'll be in His
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presence. And the righteousness that we
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have is this righteousness of Jesus Christ, because none of us
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are righteous in and of ourselves, are we?
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We can't stand before God and this act like we have it
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together, because we don't. We only have it together because
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of what Jesus has done for us. And so he allows us to wear
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these robes of righteousness, these pure white robes and the
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robes tied together in the fact that it says these righteous
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acts of his Saints. Now everything we do in this
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earth in the name of Jesus and by His Spirit is recorded in a
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book. And when God opens those books
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at the judgement seat of Christ for the body, for the believers,
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for the church, he'll judge out of that book the things we did
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in the body, whether they're good or evil.
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And I would trust that you and myself, we want to have as much
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possible written in that book that is good.
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Amen. Not evil, because what is
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goodwill come out as gold, silver, and precious stone.
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What is evil will be burned and it'll be destroyed in the fire.
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So keep in mind that we're saved by grace through faith in Christ
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alone. But at the same time there is
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this responsibility for us to do the things that He told us to
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do. For it says in Ephesians 210 For
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we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus.
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Unto what good works which God hath before ordained, that we
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should walk in them. And at that final day, the Lord
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says, Well, why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the
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things which I say. So the Lord ties a very strong
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emphasis on the fact that if we have true faith, it's going to
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be seen by what we do right. It's going to be seen by how we
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live, how we follow his word, how we listen to what he says.
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Now when we look at 19, it says about the Lord Himself when he's
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coming with us in 13, it says he's clothed with a robe dipped
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in blood, and his name is called the word of God in 14.
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And the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen.
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That's the same group that we just looked at in verse 8.
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That's us. The armies clothed in fine
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linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.
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So we see the distinction here between, as I read earlier, the
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rapture of the Church one event, and the second coming of Christ,
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which occurs at the end of the tribulation.
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Now I'm going to give you a couple parallels here so you can
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keep in your mind the distinction between the rapture
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and the second coming of Christ. First of all, as I said, the
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rapture is the catching away of all believers, those who are
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presently alive on the earth at the time of the trumpet sound,
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and those who are in the graves, their bodies will be actually
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literally resurrected out of the graves, and their spirits who
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are with the Lord will meet together with the body.
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And then the Lord will give us these new bodies which are going
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to be glorious without corruption in the second coming.
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There is no lifting up of believers from the face of the
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earth to meet the Lord. We're coming back with the Lord,
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right? It's a separate event #2 the
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raptured Saints. We go to be with the Lord, the
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second coming. We're coming back, as I said, to
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the earth. Now in the rapture, the earth is
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not judged yet, but in the second coming of Christ, the
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earth will be judged. The rapture is imminent.
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As I said earlier, any moment it could happen.
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Today I was watching a video, pretty cool, this pastors
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preaching about the rapture and people were sitting out there
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with their Bibles and all this. And he said, and it could happen
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right now. And all of a sudden, like
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there's all these people disappear and then there's like
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a few people sitting there looking around like what
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happened? You know, what about me, you
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know? And they realized they weren't
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true believers. They saw on the ground and got
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on their knees. Now the good news is even after
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the rapture, people will still have an opportunity to get
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saved. The Lord will still be saving
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people, but they'll have to go through the tribulation.
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The second coming of Christ follows definite predicted signs
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that we see throughout the tribulation.
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And 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 talks about the Day of the Lord,
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which is a period of time from the beginning of the rapture,
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when we're taken out to the end of time, through the Millennium,
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through the tribulation, to the end of time when the Lord
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creates the new heavens and the new earth.
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So it's a completely different time segment.
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The rapture effects believers only.
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The second coming effects all people.
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Those of us who come back with Christ to the earth and all
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those who are in the earth will start to battle against the Lord
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and His army. The rapture happens before the
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tribulation, before God's wrath. The second coming concludes at
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the end of the tribulation in regard to Satan.
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When the rapture occurs, there's no reference to what happens to
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Satan at the second coming of Christ.
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We see that Christ binds Satan for 1000 years during the
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millennial reign. The rapture Christ comes for his
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own and the second coming. Christ is coming with his own
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and the rapture. Christ comes in the air.
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In the second coming He comes to the earth and the rapture Christ
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claims His bride. In the second coming He comes to
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the earth with his bride in the rapture.
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Only his own will see him in the second coming.
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The Bible says every eye shall see him in the rapture.
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The tribulation begins right after we are taken out, and the
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millennial Kingdom begins at the second coming.
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There's enough information in the scriptures to make it clear
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that the raptures are quite different event than the second
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coming of Jesus Christ. And the reason I bring this up,
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there's a lot of confusion regarding these things in the
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body of Christ today. You have people who are pre
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Trib, mid Trib, post Trib, all millennial, post millennial, all
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these different end time views, eschatological end time views.
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We Calvary Chapel are historic pre mill, pre Trib in the sense
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of our eschatology and we're not alone.
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Good Bible teachers that you listen to in a radio like John
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MacArthur or Charles Lindahl, Charles Stanley, a lot of you
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guys listen, I know to some of these people there, they take
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the same position we do. So we're in good company with
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credible Bible scholars. However, I said this isn't
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anything to divide on with people who have different
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positions. The good news is whenever the
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Lord comes back to all realize we're right and they were wrong,
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but if they're in Christ, we're all going to love each other
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anyway and it's not going to matter.
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But it is important in regard to how we're preparing for the
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Lord's return and how we live in light of that return.
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So let's look at the section that we're going to spend some
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time on Revelation chapter 19. As we see in verse 11, the
Revelation 19 chapter mention
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heaven is open and behold a White Horse, a physical animal,
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a horse. We're all going to be riding
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horses when we come back with the Lord at the second coming.
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Now I don't like riding horses. I'm afraid of getting on them
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because they can go out of control, you know, and unless
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you're are really trained to tell it what to do, it just has
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a mind of its own. But the good news is when we
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come back with the Lord, don't worry about that.
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We're going to get on the horse. The horse is going to know
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exactly where it's going, what it's supposed to do.
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We're just going to have to hold on.
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That's all we're going to have to do.
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But Christ is going to come back on this beautiful White Horse
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and we're all going to ride with him.
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And it says he who sat on him was called faithful and true
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capital F capital T in your Bibles and righteousness.
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He judges and makes war. Now, this is a time that I think
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every one of us should be looking forward to.
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I was thinking about the world the way it is today and the
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complete ignorance that it has toward the things of God, this
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independence of a Creator. Sometimes you wish you had this
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power in you, and we do. We have the Holy Spirit's power
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in us, but we don't have the power to bring forth judgment,
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do we? Only Christ has that power and
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authority. Sometimes you just long for
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certain people you know that will realize that God is the
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Lord. Amen.
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People that scoff and ridicule and laugh at you and reject you
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and think you're nuts. You just can't wait for the day
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that they realize how real God is and how holy is and how just
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and how glorious he is. But this is the day that we have
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to wait for when Christ comes and the liberal thought the day
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is I'm not a Sinner. Why would he be talking about
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sin? I'm a good person and how
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there's no such place as hell. I would not even acknowledge
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that a place like that exists, some might say.
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Someone told me recently that a relative went to a neighbor and
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was telling the neighbor boy about the importance of knowing
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Jesus Christ and accepting Him as your Savior.
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Because if you don't have him as your Savior and you're Lord,
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you'll suffer the consequences one day of eternal hell.
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And the mother came over very angry and very disturbed that
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this young man had told her son about hell.
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And she said, we don't believe in such a place.
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That's morbid. We would never accept anything
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like that. Well, her authority certainly
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isn't the word of God, is it? And sometimes it's difficult for
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us because if we are Christians, we have to proclaim everything
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that this Bible teaches, even when it makes people disturbed
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and when it makes them uncomfortable.
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And that's the difference between churches in these last
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days that are proclaiming the truth and churches that are
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proclaiming the lie. But there is this liberal
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thought today. There is no place in this world
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today for any idea of judgment. There's no consequences for sin.
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We make up God in our own image and and how we want to think
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about him. That's what's called
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universalism. This pretense and delusion today
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that people have will one day be very, very costly.
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If you look at Matthew Chapter 7 for a moment, the slip in your
Matthew 7 chapter mention
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Bible over to the left Matthew Chapter 7, it says in verse 21
Matthew 7 chapter mention
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of Matthew 7, not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord shall
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enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will
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of my Father in heaven. You want to underline it in your
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Bible. It isn't enough this to say you
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believe in Christ, but you need to be doing his will like Jesus
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when he was on earth. He's perfect God, perfect man.
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He says my will is to do the will of the Father and if we're
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his offspring, then we should have the same desire in our
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hearts to do the will of the Father.
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He said, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we
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not prophesized in your name, cast out demons in your name and
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done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them,
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I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice
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lawlessness. And won't that be a shock to
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your whole life, thinking you're on the right track and you're
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doing the right things? But meanwhile, your heart is
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just not pure because you haven't allowed Christ to save
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you. And so you're trying to be a
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religious person. I think of all the institutions
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on the face of the earth today, many churches are very
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religious. They have statues, they have
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crosses, they have icons, They have all kind of spiritual
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atmosphere. And yet Jesus would say many
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times he could say to us today, just because we have a dove that
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represents the Holy Spirit of the cross here, He could say
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these people worship me with their lips, but their heart is
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far from me. And so the consequences of
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believing a lie. That's why the apostle Paul
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every time we take the Lord's Supper, he says to examine
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yourself, whether you're in the faith every time that supper
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goes around. Would the God, if any of us here
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are posers and we're not Christians that we would take
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that we would examine ourselves and we'd hear the Spirit of God
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say you're still lost, you're phony, you need to get saved.
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And if you hear that, be thankful that he's shown you
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that you are in delusion. But if we can take that supper
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and we allow the Spirit to examine us and we have that
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assurance, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.
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Oh, by the foretaste of glory, define air salvation purchased
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of blood, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
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We can know that for sure, can't we?
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We have that assurance in us or our heart does not condemn us.
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God, the Lord Jesus Christ comes with crowns of triumph and glory
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and deity as we see here in this section of Revelation.
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He's all knowing. He has flaming eyes.
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His eyes and verse 12 are like a flame of fire, a holy judgement.
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Christ, as He looks upon you and me.
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His Word, the Word of God, is the instrument of His righteous
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judgement. Look at Hebrews chapter 4.
Hebrews 4 chapter mention
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Just move over to the left there a little bit a few books.
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Hebrews chapter 4 verse 11 through 13.
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It says. Let us therefore be diligent to
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enter that rest lest anyone fall according to the same example of
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disobedience. For the word of God and the
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Bible declares Christ as the Word.
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In the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and
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the Word was God. John chapter one verse one.
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Not like the Jehovah witnesses would say in the beginning was
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the Word and the word was with God and the Word was a God.
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No, Jesus Christ is God, not a created being.
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He's the second person of the Trinity, God the Father, God the
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Son, God the Holy Spirit, self existent, always existing of 1
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essence with the Father. It says the word of God is
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living and powerful and sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing
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even the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow.
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And as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
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heart. You know, when we sit here and
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we examine ourselves in the Lord's Supper, I can just
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picture like the sword picking away at my heart, pulling stuff
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back. Clark, I want you to see this.
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I want you to acknowledge this. I want you to recognize this.
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I want you to let this go. Let me purify you, let me
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carterize these places of bankruptcy in your heart, and
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let my spirit make your heart dislike mine.
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He's a discerner. He knows every thought and
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intent of our heart. He knows every motive.
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And verse 13, it says there's no creature hidden from his sight.
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God sees the whole earth. He sees the whole world.
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He sees every human being, all things are naked and open to the
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eyes of him with whom we must give an account.
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There's nothing I can hide. I can hide things from you, You
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can hide things from me, but we can't hide anything from the
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Lord God. In verse 13, it says he was
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clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the
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Word of God, the judgement that confronts God's enemies in
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Isaiah chapter 63. If you flip over there in the
Isaiah 63 chapter mention
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Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 63, this talks about this
Isaiah 63 chapter mention
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Armageddon, this final battle, one day that will come upon this
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earth and his second coming, the consequences of those who are
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going to fight against the Lord. Who is this who comes from Edom
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with dyed garments from Borzraw? This one who is glorious in his
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apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
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And this is what we see depicted in Revelation 19.
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I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
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Why is your apparel read in your garments?
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Like one who treads in the winepress?
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Again, the same verbiage that's used in Revelation.
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I've trodden the winepress alone and from the people.
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No one was with me, for I've trodden them in my anger, and I
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trampled them in my fury. Their blood is sprinkled upon my
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garments. So what we see represented by
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Christ is this battle that will ensue when He comes back.
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For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my
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redeem has come. I look, but there was no one to
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help, and I wondered that there was no one to uphold.
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Therefore my arm brought salvation for me and my own
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fury. It sustained me.
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I've trodden down the people in my anger, made them drunk in my
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fury, and brought down their strength to the earth.
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His name is called the Word of God.
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Jesus is a visible word of the unseen God.
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I love what it says in Hebrews regarding Christ himself.
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In Hebrews chapter one verse 3, Hebrews chapter one verse 3, it
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says about Christ, who being the brightness of his glory in the
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express image of His person, on upholding all things by the word
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of his power. When he sat down by himself, He
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purged or cleanse us from our sins.
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He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, sat down on
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the right hand of the Father. He's the express image of his
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Father. And so as we look at this
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section of revelation, we understand that we're going to
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be with the Lord when he comes back.
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And as I described the difference between the rapture
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of the church and the second coming Christ, when he comes
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back and the second coming, his role will be absolute and
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authoritative. It'll be seen as an iron roll,
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invincible in this world. When he's rolling and reigning
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on this earth, there will be no more corrupt governments.
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There will be no immorality rolling and raging on the
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televisions and on the Internet, in the airwaves.
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It'll be a time of purity and righteousness, and nothing will
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be dealt with like it has been in that time compared to the way
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it is right now. Sometimes we wonder, why do the
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wicked rage, as the psalmist said, and the people imagine a
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vain thing? Why is it that people refuse to
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see their need of a Savior? Why is it that they refuse to
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repent? Christ has given Himself
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everything on behalf of the human race upon the lost, upon
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the Sinner, and the world keeps pushing their hands away from
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Him. During this time in the
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millennial Kingdom, when Christ rules with an iron hand for 1000
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years, there'll still be people born on the face of the earth.
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During that thousand years, there'll be sinners that will be
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born that will one day once again rise up at the end of that
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thousand years in anarchy, at the final battle of Gog and
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Magog. And that's right prior to the
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destruction of the earth, when the Bible says there will be a
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new heaven and a new earth that will be created.
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So his role will be unlike anything that we're experiencing
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today. Now, we have to keep in mind
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though, that God's hand is still on the universe.
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That never was off of it. Sometimes we wonder though,
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don't we, God, how could you let this happen?
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Why did this go on? There's a purpose and a reason
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for everything that happens in human history.
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God's never sleeping. He's never ignoring the
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heartache and the pain of his people.
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Israel had to cry out for many hundreds of years before God
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sent a deliverer, didn't they? Before God sent Moses to pull
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them out of the bondage and horror?
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Living under Pharaoh's regime, I think about the Jews and the
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Holocaust and those who cried out for help and for mercy.
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God was not silent in that time where He had many Christians
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helping the Jews find a place of safety and to get out of the
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country. So they weren't killed in the
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ovens, but many were. But God was there, as He will be
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even during the Tribulation when people were going through
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tremendous horror and heartache and heartbreak.
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And yet he'll have still on the earth a remnant, 144,000 people
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who will be going around sharing the good news of Jesus Christ,
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saying it isn't too late. Repent.
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Thanks for being with us today here on Living Waters of Grace.
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We're in the Book of Revelation, and we find it fascinating how
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influential and involved the angels are in this book.
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They bring about whatever it is that God has instructed them to
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do, but it's through their actions that much of the
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judgements come on the earth. The angels are in submission to
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God as their authority, but He utilizes them in unique ways
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throughout this book. Like angels have a specific
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purpose from God, you have a unique purpose and plan too.
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God wants to use you in your life as a testimony to others
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and to bring others who are currently lost into the fold of
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God. God would love more than
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anything for all who are willing to come to Him for salvation,
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but He wants it to be their choice, not a forced situation.
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This is the way God works, not forcing himself on anyone, but
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giving each person free will. If you're interested in learning
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about this choice that's free and that it's a gift, go to
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calvarychapelonline.com and click on the About Us tab and
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then find the link for what we believe.
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We'd love to be a help and a resource for you as you walk
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through what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
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If you find the contact tab on our website, you can get in
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touch with us or submit a prayer request.
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We'd love to hear from you. That's all for today's edition
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and Revelation, but there's much more that Pastor Clark plans to
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share with us from this culminating book of the Bible.
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Stay tuned for that and make sure to mention this radio
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program to others. Invite them to tune into Grace
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FM 91.7 FM. They can stream worldwide at
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Grace Radio dot FM. This has been Living Waters of
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Grace.