Sermon
Living Waters of Grace, February 18, 2026
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
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Waffer, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, County
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of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
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continues teaching through God's Word.
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Christ's blood transforms us, doesn't it?
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It changes us. And if you're still the same and
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you haven't changed and something's wrong, either you
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haven't really been converted yet and you haven't really
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repented, and you haven't been born again yet and you haven't
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been saved. Or you have had some bad
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teaching and you understand all the promises that are yours in
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Christ Jesus. But Christ himself, He's the one
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that has loved you and has washed you from your sins in his
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blood. A Caterpillar goes into its
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cocoon as a crawling insect. Over the course of time, it goes
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through a transformative process and emerges as a new creation
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that we know as a butterfly. The butterfly not only looks
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different, but it also acts differently than it did when it
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was a Caterpillar. Today, Pastor Clark reminds us
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that we are called as believers to change the things we do, the
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way we think, and the way we talk with others.
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Once we are in Christ, it's not by our power, but by the blood
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of Jesus that this is accomplished.
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Now here's Pastor Clark in the Book of Revelation chapter one
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with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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You look at someone, you say, boy, you know, they seem to have
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a servant heart. They care about people more than
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they care about themselves. But don't give that person the
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credit. Give Jesus a credit.
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He's the one through his blood that's done that in that
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person's heart. The person used to flip out and
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say all kind of angry things and had a temper that was always
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unruly and volatile. The person's life changes and
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now they're peaceful. They don't respond the same way.
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Why? Because of the blood of Jesus,
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the man or woman or teenager that used to find their kicks on
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pornographic imagery and sexual immorality and fornication and
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all the evil things that we're all capable of and many of us
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have committed. The blood washes us and frees us
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from lustful passions. The focus isn't upon you or me
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anymore of what I can get out of life or what's best for me, but
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what can I do to give my life away for the sake of Christ and
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the sake of others? Christ's blood transforms us,
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doesn't it? It changes us.
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And if you're still the same and you haven't changed and
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something's wrong, either you haven't really been converted
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yet and you haven't really repented, and you haven't been
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born again yet and you haven't been saved, or you have had some
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bad teaching and you understand all the promises that are yours
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in Christ Jesus. But Christ himself, He's the one
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that has loved you and has washed you from your sins in His
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blood. I remember that old song.
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Would you be free from your burden of sin?
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There's power in the blood, power in the blood.
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Would you do service for Jesus your king?
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There's wonderful power in the blood.
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There is power, power, wonder, working power in the precious
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blood of the lamb. There is.
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There's power, wonder, working power in the blood of the lamb.
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Really, really powerful guys. In verse 6 it says, and he's
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made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory
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and dominion forever and ever, Amen.
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Do you know today that we are kings and priests of the most
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high God? And He's made us this way so
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that you can represent Him to others, so that they can come
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and get healing from their brokenness and their ruined
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lives. That people you run into who
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know they're sick and need a physician will come to you to
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find out about the Savior so He can cleanse them and heal them
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and deliver them and save them, just like He's saved and healed
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and delivered you. Amen.
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The function of the priestly office in the Old Testament was
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a mediator role where the Old Testament Jews had to deal with
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a priest who went in and made intercession for them and made
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atonement on the ark for their sins.
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In Hebrews chapter 10/19, though, it says now we having
Hebrews 10 chapter mention
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boldness, brethren, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
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way which he's consecrated through the veil, that is to say
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his flesh, we can enter in boldly by the blood of Jesus
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that we may find mercy and grace and help in our time of need.
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I like to pray for you guys and I like you to pray for me too.
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And sometimes can someone asks, can you pray for me?
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Or I'll pray for you and you pray for me and that's
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important. We're told to do that
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biblically, but getting deeper into it, you have access this
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like I do this like all those people we read about in the
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Scriptures that we are blown away at their testimonies in
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their lives. Sometimes we think, man, if Paul
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was here, if I could just get him to pray for me, there would
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be a lot of wonderful things that would occur.
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And the Bible tells us the prayers of a righteous person do
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avail much. But the importance of
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understanding that you yourself and your weakness and your sin
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can go right to the throne of God and walk in and he's he
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knows who you are and you don't have to jump through any hoops.
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You don't have to go through any man, any priest, any authority.
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You can have access directly to the throne room of God that you
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may find mercy and grace and help in your time of need.
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It tells us in first Peter 29, You are a chosen generation, a
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royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you
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may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness
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into his marvelous light. You guys know that about
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yourselves. You're a chosen generation,
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you're a royal priesthood. God has such pleasure in
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ordaining you and me for these kingly and priestly positions in
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his Kingdom. That's every one of us.
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And you might say, well, I don't feel too worthy to be a king or
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a priest, not based on your worthiness, guys.
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It's based on His gift and His love for you that he's poured
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this out because he loves you and every one of us from the
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youngest one here who's in Christ, to the oldest one here
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who's in Christ, are all priests and kings of the Most High God.
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So think about that the next time God's called you to do
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something. Don't think you're unworthy.
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Don't think you're unable or too low of a lower than scump on
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some of us call ourselves. Don't think that way.
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Realize, hey, in spite of the wacky person I am and the stupid
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things I've done, the mistakes I've made, and the things I may
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be going through now, God hasn't stripped me of this royalty that
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I belong to him and He belongs to me.
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And so we serve based upon the authority that he gives us, not
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on any human authority or not any human pointing out and
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saying, well, I think you're worthy and you're not.
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No, it's not about what man sees.
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It's about what God sees, right? He sees your heart.
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He knows all about you, and he's called you a chosen generation
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or royal priesthood, a special people.
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Remind yourselves of that whenever you feel condemned,
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whenever you feel unloved, when you feel you failed to speak
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that verse. Satan, you're a liar.
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God has called me a chosen generation.
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God has called me a member of his royal priesthood.
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I'm part of a holy nation. I'm special and you are too,
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right? Satan, get thee behind me.
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Amen. Don't listen to the lies of your
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conscience at times and the voice of the Evil 1 and the
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demonic activity that's surrounding this world that will
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try to give you lies. You know the devil wants you to
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feel so down and so defeated and so unworthy in the sense of not
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being able to do anything for the Kingdom because of your past
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or what you've done, Paul said. Forget the past, forget the
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things which are behind, and press toward the mark of the
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high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
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See, the devil wants you to feel that way so that you never do
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anything for the Kingdom, because you're thinking somehow
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you got to find some kind of worth in yourself.
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And then if you find it or you achieve it, then you think,
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well, now I'm ready. And God says no.
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All of our righteousness is like filthy rags.
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He doesn't want your goodness in your promises, in your
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righteousness. He wants the person of Christ
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who's in you to serve through you.
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And that's the big difference between religion and
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relationship. The resurrection of Christ, he
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says in John 2017. I'm ascending to my father and
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your father, to my God and your God.
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I love the fact that Christ is our example, even though he's
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God in the flesh, the mystery of the Trinity, God the Father, God
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the Son, God the Holy Spirit, there's order and Christ as he
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was living as a man on the earth being fully God showed us how to
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communicate with God, how to worship the Father, how to seek
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the will of the Father. Jesus said my will is to always
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do the will of the Father and it says after he's made us these
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wonderful individuals, kings and priests to his God capital H
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Christ is referring to the Father being his Father as well.
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To him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
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The importance of understanding God's glory, His control and his
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dominion, not for a little while, not for a period of time
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in history, but forever and ever.
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Amen. It tells us that same in Jude 25
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to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty,
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dominion and power, both now and forever.
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Again, the picture of the triune God.
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This is a doxology we're reading here in Revelation.
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There's seven doxologies to the glory of God in the Book of
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Revelation. This is the first one, chapter
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4, verse 9. It says glory and honor and
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thanks. 411 power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
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and glory and blessing. That's a sevenfold blessing,
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Chapter 513. Blessing and glory and wisdom
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and Thanksgiving, honor, power and might.
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That's another sevenfold blessing, Chapter 7, verse 12,
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salvation and glory, honor and power.
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I mean, I just love this book because it continually lifts up
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Christ. Christ is a center of everything
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that we come together each week to celebrate and to worship and
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to learn from and to look to. And verse 7 he says, behold, He
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is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who
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pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because
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of him. Even so, Amen.
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Christ is going to be coming and the second coming in the clouds.
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The Bible tells us that everyone will have the capacity to see
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Him. We know now with Internet and
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GPS and this technology, you better believe with all the
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satellites and the capability we have in the universe now for
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such a time as this, it will truly be possible for every eye
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to see. I mean, what's cool is when he
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comes back, you're not going to be sitting around.
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Why? Hey man, look at that.
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Isn't that cool? We're going to be coming back
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with him because this is after the Tribulation and we aren't in
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the tribulation. We're with the Lord and the
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Kingdom. So he's coming with clouds at
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the end of the seven-year tribulation.
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And this is the great theme of the book that's referred to in
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Daniel as the end of the 70 week period of Daniel, which refers
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to this tribulation. And today the human race is
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either looking forward to this return of Christ or they're
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doing everything they can to fight against it from occurring
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references given to this Daniel Chapter 7, verse 13 and 14.
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This is prophetical from the book of Daniel.
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And this is what he says. I saw in the night visions.
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Is he having a vision? And behold, one like the Son of
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Man, came with clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days,
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and they brought him near before him, and there was given him
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dominion and glory, and a Kingdom that all people and
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nations and languages should serve Him.
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His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass
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away, and His Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
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Picturing the millennial reign and millennial Kingdom of our
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Savior Jesus Christ talked about way back in Daniel.
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Daniel 927 speaks to the final seven years when the Antichrist
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makes a treaty with Israel and breaks it after 3 1/2 years and
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persecutes Israel till he's destroyed by Christ at the
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battle of Armageddon. This is referred to in Matthew
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2415, Revelation chapter 11-2 and three, Revelation 12/6 and
Revelation 11 chapter mention
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14, and Revelation 13 verse 5. Everything's going to look real
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great the 1st 3 1/2 years. Peace, prosperity, economic
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growth, everything perfect like Nirvana.
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Finally, peace on earth, goodwill toward men, counterfeit
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peace, a counterfeit throne, one who sets himself up as God, the
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abomination of desolation, the Antichrist who will sit himself
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in that temple and proclaim himself to be God.
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At the end of the first 3 1/2 years, the promises that he made
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to Israel to deceive them will be broken.
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And you think the Holocaust was bad?
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It's going to make the Holocaust look like nothing.
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The horror that's going to come across and upon this nation of
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Israel at that time. But thank God, Jesus Christ will
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come back and put things under His authority and His control.
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If you read the Matthews, flip over to Matthew just for a
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second. Matthew 24 verse 29 and 30.
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This gives you more context here about what's going on.
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It says immediately after the tribulation of those days, the
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sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
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The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens
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will be shaken. Then the sun of the Son of Man
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will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will
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mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
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heaven with power and great glory. 2531 to slip over. 1
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chapter. When the Son of Man comes in His
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glory and all the holy angels with him, then He will sit on
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the throne of His glory, and he'll obviously at that time
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establish His Kingdom in Jerusalem.
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He will rule and reign there literally for 1000 years.
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It says that even those who were responsible for crucifying him.
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Of course, that's all of us, but the Jews in particular.
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It says in the book of the Acts that you know the the travesty
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of the injustice of what happened to Christ.
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Even though it was a sovereign decree of God, and God said that
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Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth, it
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didn't prevent the responsibility and the judgment
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upon those who took Him. It says by their own evil hands
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and purposed in their own evil hearts to crucify Him, the Lord
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of glory. But this is what will happen to
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those who are on the face of the earth at this time that have
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heard the history and they've heard the preaching during the
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tribulation. Many have heard the preaching
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before the tribulation, but they never came to Christ.
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So they weren't raptured out. They weren't taken out prior to
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the bowls of wrath of God being poured out upon the earth.
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It says, And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
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and they shall mourn for Him as one who mourns for his only son.
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That's from Zechariah chapter 1210.
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You can compare it out to Revelation 17 and Zechariah 13.
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Six. It says, And one shall say to
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him, What are these wounds on your hands?
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He shall answer those with which I was wounded in the House of my
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friends. The Bible says He came to his
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own, and his own received him not.
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How heartbreaking that is. And here in this beautiful
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prophecy of Zechariah, when they'll see him and they'll talk
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to him and they'll say, where did these wounds come from in
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your hands? And Jesus will answer and say,
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these are which I was wounded in the House of my friends.
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He calls his enemies his friends.
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He will slay the armies of Antichrist when he comes back
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that are gathered in Palestine at Armageddon, and we'll get to
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that in Revelation 1911 through 22, chapter 20, verse 2.
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The wailing, the crying that will occur whenever Christ does
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come back is a wailing that was going on for the remnant of
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Israel and the Gentiles who turned to Christ during the
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Tribulation. There will be people who will
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get saved during the Tribulation.
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If you don't have Christ, I would not wait till that time to
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come to Christ because most people will not come to Christ.
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I'll take the mark of the beast and become his enemies forever.
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But there will be some during that time.
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Even though it'll cost them their lives and they'll be
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martyred and some will flee to the mountains and the hills to
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hide. They'll be believers during that
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time and the cry will be overwhelming because of the long
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term blindness of all these people that now they'll see
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their own sins in light of the cross and they'll see him whom
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they've crucified by their sinful lives.
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What a time of brokenness and Jesus concludes his section will
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end up here today. He says I am the Alpha in verse
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8 in the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord who
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is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. 1A and
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Omega, the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet.
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Here Christ is declaring that He is the very start and the very
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conclusion of every matter, That everything that in this life and
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in this world that makes eternal sense starts with Christ and
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ends with Christ and everything in between with Christ.
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He is a Alpha and Omega, the 1st and the last, the beginning and
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the end and who is and who was and who is to come to self
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existent, all everlasting Savior Jesus Christ.
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No beginning, no end, one with the Father, one with the Spirit.
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Christ wasn't created. He always existed with the
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Father and with the Spirit. And he declares this about
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himself. And verse 8.
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And as you guys study ahead, I'd study the rest of this chapter.
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I'd like you to take particular note to verse 17 and think about
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this in your own day, when you will stand before the Lord and
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give an account of your life. What will your physical posture
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be when you enter into that throne room and give an account
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of your life for the things you've done in your body,
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whether they be good or evil? The judgment seat of Christ, not
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the great white throne judgment that is set aside for
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unbelievers and those who reject Christ at that judgment.
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The book of life is open, and whoever is not found written in
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the Lamb's book of life will be cast into the lake of fire.
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But the judgment seat of Christ is the judgment for believers,
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where our works will be tried and tested, whether they were
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done with pure motives for the glory of God or to what we do on
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this earth in the name of Jesus. Want to draw attention to
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ourselves, our own vain glory, our own pride, or all be tested
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and all the excuses we had while we were on earth will all burn
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up because they won't be excuses anymore.
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They'll just be seen as lies and cop outs.
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But this is the posture of the apostle John and he's definitely
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a devoted follower of Christ. The apostle John, if he's like
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this, I'm thinking what am I going to be like?
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He says. And when I saw him, I fell at
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his feet is dead. But he laid his right hand on
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me, saying to me, do not be afraid.
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I am the 1st and the last. I am he who lives and was dead.
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And behold, I am alive forevermore.
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Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and
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death. So as we study this book, it's
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just wow, you know, I mean, what can you say with this?
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My prayer for us as a church is that this is a purifying
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teaching. And as we think about the return
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of Christ, whether it is in the rapture for us or the second
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coming of Christ for those who won't get saved until the
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tribulation, it says every man that hath this hope in himself,
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in regard to this blessed hope, purifieth himself even as he is
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pure. These are the days, guys, to
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repent. These are the days to set your
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house in order, your marriages in order, your responsibilities
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and raising your children, your priorities and how you do your
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job and how you testify of your faith in your neighborhood, your
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community. This is not a game.
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This is like real life here, right?
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What he's teaching us. And so I pray that even during
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the study, there might be some here that realize they've never
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come to Christ and they don't want to be left behind.
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They don't want to have to face the difficulty of the
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tribulation. You don't want to be here when
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the tribulation starts. Paul says today is the day of
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salvation. Don't sit here and think, well,
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let me think about this. Maybe next week or next month or
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down the road. Today is the day of salvation.
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If the Holy Spirit is imploring you in your heart to come to
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Christ today, I'd encourage you to pray and just say I need
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Jesus. Help me.
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Show me how I can be saved. If you're here as a Christian
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and you're backslidden and you've been taking it lightly
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and you've been pretending, but you're really not living the way
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God wants you to live, I'd ask you to come down after the
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service and just get on your face before God and clean things
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up with him today through the power of his blood.
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We want to go through this book not as students of information.
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We want to go through this book as disciples of transformation,
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that each of our lives will change to become more like Jesus
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as we study this book together. In the Book of Revelation,
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Pastor Clark is taking us through all kinds of events and
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happenings that are predicted for the future.
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But for those who believe and follow Jesus, there's much to
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look forward to in heaven with Jesus.
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However, for those who are here on earth during the Tribulation,
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there's all kinds of chaos that will unfold.
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The Bible talks about an Antichrist, a false prophet, and
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of course that evil enemy, Satan.
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Do you see how there are such clever attempts for the enemy to
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disguise himself as God and even the Trinity?
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The true Savior of the world is God and how he comes to rescue
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through his triune nature, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and
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God the Holy Spirit. But like Satan tried to take
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over for God in heaven and was cast out, Satan will try to
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convince people on earth that he is the triune God to be
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worshipped instead of the legitimate God in heaven.
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It's an attempt, and although he will capture plenty in his
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schemes, he will not win. The true God wins, and
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Revelation unpacks how that will all happen in detail.
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Be encouraged because there's a way out for all of this madness
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that will ensue on this earth. But you don't want to wait
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indefinitely to make that decision about Jesus.
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We don't know when the church will be raptured, and you want
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to be ready to be with Jesus. To learn more about this, head
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over to calvarychapelonline.com. We're so glad you've been with
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us today. And if you'd like to connect
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further with this ministry, find us on Facebook or YouTube.
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You can also download our mobile app at calvarychapelonline.com.
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Be sure to join us for weekly services at 400 E Pittsburgh St.
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Ste. 6B in Greensburg, PA 15601. This has been living waters of
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grace.