Living Waters of Grace, February 17, 2026

This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark

Waffer, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, County

of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he

continues teaching through God's Word.

God has created you and I in a way that once we come to know

Him, that He wants to have continual union with us,

continual relationship with us moment by moment.

That's not on Sunday for a few hours, or on a Wednesday, or

when you open your Bible in the morning, but He wants to be

communing with you moment by moment.

And so we keep ourselves in remembrance of God's presence

24/7. That's what God's desire is.

That's the absolute picture of a perfect kind of humility.

My father was always working on some project around the house,

the yard or in the garage. He would always request my help

in these projects. I would often join him, albeit

reluctantly at times. I learned that it wasn't my help

that he desired, as I often slowed things down, but my

presence and relationship that he enjoyed.

Pastor Clark reminds us in today's message that God has

created us for constant communion with Him.

When we understand and submit to His design, we are far more

satisfied now. Here's Pastor Clark in

Revelation chapter one with today's edition of Living Waters

of Grace. Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

We'll start with where we left off.

The lesson is he who reads and those who hear the words of this

prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the

time is near. The importance of reading the

Book of Revelation and not only reading it, but listening to it

and doing the things it says is promised blessing.

And so I want to encourage you guys as you're here to realize

that this is a very, very special book.

The whole book, the whole Bible is special, but there's a

uniqueness to the Book of Revelation that God has promised

to implant in your lives, a degree of blessing that is

unlike any other blessing that you will get in any other book.

And it has to do with revelation, illumination, wisdom

that God gives you as your life changes as you study this book.

And the word blessing comes from the Hebrew word that means more

to be guided, not so much to what I'm going to get out of my

life or what do you have for me, God.

But it's the privilege to be guided on the narrow path away

from all the lies of the philosophies of man in this

world that we Live Today. All the confusing things that

are being taught in colleges and high schools and on TV in The

History Channel, all these things that come across to

basically denounce the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We're guided on this narrow path away from these kind of in the

modern times so that we won't be deceived into following

darkness, deceptions of the evil 1 and the allures of this fallen

world. The Book of Revelation

captivates you when you are walking in continual remembrance

of God. And that's the biggest thing I

think that we all struggle with every day.

How can I keep God in my thoughts all day long, moment by

moment? Someone called me recently on

vacation and they said, you know, I was doing really good

for three days, keeping my mind on the Lord in the Word.

And then all of a sudden the 4th, 5th day came.

I just thought I needed a diversion, watch some TV, just

chill out. And the person admitted that

they started forgetting about God a little bit.

And as they started forgetting about God, their lives began to

unwind and go back into old patterns and old places, old

sinful impulses and temptations. And so God has created you and I

in a way that once we come to know him, that He wants to have

continual union with us, continual relationship with us

moment by moment. That's not on Sunday for a few

hours, or on a Wednesday, or when you open your Bible in the

morning. But He wants to be communing

with you moment by moment. And so we keep ourselves in

remembrance of God's presence 24/7.

That's what God's desire is. That's the absolute picture of a

perfect kind of humility when I realize I want to be with the

Lord, that I realize I need to be with the Lord, that He wants

me to be with him and I want to be with Him.

And we have this community, him and I together, this

relationship of love and friendship and closeness, that

there isn't anything I want to do in my life that ignores him

or puts him out of the picture. Now whenever we want to take our

lives in a way and just have it our own way, so to speak, and

think our own thoughts and our own ways, what's that an example

of? That's an example of pride.

And that's the thing that the Lord detests the most, a proud

heart, an arrogant heart. And our minds are like that

whenever we stop thinking about God.

And we're not usually wired to think that way, but that's how

God, God has created us so that we would need Him all the time.

That's the way it was in the Garden before the fall.

Adam and Eve were able to speak with God and they were able to

hear God's voice back to them. They were aware of God's

presence all the time. So this is the purpose of this

book, to get us more geared in the sense of walking with the

Lord. The Bible says walk in the

Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

So being with the Lord is a walk moment by moment, step by step,

to abide in the vine, to be connected to the resource of

Jesus Christ 24/7, abiding in him, receiving our nourishment,

our spiritual strength, our food from Christ himself.

He said, abide in me and I and you, and you'll bring forth much

fruit, for without me you can do nothing.

Walking, abiding, repenting, continual repentance, metanoia,

the present verb tense of always submitting and repenting before

the Lord. That's why the psalmist said,

let the words in my mouth and the meditations of my heart.

He was so in tune with God's presence that he was aware that

God saw every thought and was able to determine every motive

of the human heart and then to humble ourselves.

We're told in James for us to humble ourselves under the

mighty hand of God, that we're told in Romans to yield

ourselves not as instruments of unrighteousness unto evil, but

yield ourselves as members of righteousness unto God.

It tells us in Romans chapter 12 we're to present ourselves a

Romans 12 · chapter mention

living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

It tells us in Psalm 139 to let God search your heart, to let

Him try your thoughts, and to see if there's any wicked way in

you and to lead you in the way everlasting.

So this is the desire of this blessing that God wants to give

you. When you read this book and you

participate in it and you meditate upon it and you think

about what it's teaching, it's preparing you to have a deeper

walk with the Lord. That's the intention of the Holy

Spirit as we study this book together.

In verse 4 it says John to the seven churches which are in

Asia, grace to you, and peace from him who is and who was and

who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his

throne. As we talked last week and we

saw the map, John is speaking to the seven churches in Asia

Minor. The number 7 reveals

completeness or perfection. There was more churches than

thus 7. But the concept of the writer

and the Holy Spirit was that as we think about this seven, it

refers to every church, just not the ones that are listed here.

And this book, as we said last week, was written between 94 and

96 AD during the reign of Domitian, who was an evil empire

in Rome, who had tremendous influence around all the regions

and who was very prone to persecute Christians.

He was an idolater. He spent about $22 million in

developing places of idolatry to worship false gods, and he

wanted to get rid of everyone that proclaimed this message of

Jesus Christ. He put John the Apostle out in

the Isle of Patmos, which is about 37 miles off the coast of

what is today modern Turkey. It's a island that you wouldn't

want to go to. It's not a Paradise Island.

It's not like going to Hawaii. It is a rocky terrain, very dry

place, only about 10 miles long, about 6 miles wide.

And they use this place to send people who needed to be

isolated, people who were considered possible threats to

the government of Rome. And of course, all Christians

were considered that at that time.

And so he tells us as he begins to write this book, and he's

writing it to those who are going through persecution at

this time, through this evil empire.

He's telling them that grace and peace be given to them from him.

Capital H, who is and who was and who is to come.

The Hebrew word for God in the Old Testament is Yahweh.

You remember God said to Moses. Moses says, who should I say

sent me? He says, I am that I am.

God is fully everlasting and eternally existing.

He is the one true God, the everlasting Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit. And He speaks in this fourth

verse. Also, interesting comment here.

He makes this word here regarding the seven spirits who

are before His throne, a mystery verse, but again, referring to

completeness, and a lot of the commentators see this as being

the first of the sevens in the Book of Revelation.

It's a key number, as I said, signifying God's perfection, His

completeness, and it is believed that this is a reference to

Isaiah Chapter 11, verse 2, where the Holy Spirit is

Isaiah 11:2

described in this section of Scripture.

They are called the Spirit of the Lord Prophet Isaiah Speaking

of the Spirit coming upon the Messiah, upon Jesus.

It says the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him.

That's the first aspect of the completeness of the person.

The Holy Spirit says the Spirit of wisdom, the second

characteristic of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of

understanding, The third aspect of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit

of counsel, the 4th, the Spirit of power, the 5th, the Spirit of

knowledge, the six, and the fear of the Lord. 7 the Holy Spirit

and his complete fullness. And so he gives us greeting that

goes out from the Father Himself, and eventually now we

begin to speak of the person of the Holy Spirit.

And the next few verses will speak on the person of the Son.

So in the Book of Revelation we see very clearly manifest the

Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit, which is

very, very important to affirm and to believe and to understand

and to know. And as he begins to give this

greeting, the greeting then begins to go from the Father to

the Holy Spirit. And as I said now as we begin to

look at verse 5, to the Son and from Jesus Christ, the faithful

witness, the first born from the dead, and the ruler over the

kings of the earth, to Him who loved us and washed us from our

sin in His own blood. We see in this section of

Revelation the manifestation of Christ in His priestly office

and His prophetical office and His kingly office.

Jesus Christ is prophet, priest and king, and the three titles

which will comfort these people who are reading this time, we're

reading these letters or hearing these letters as they're read in

their fellowships who are undergoing difficult

persecution. It says he's the faithful

witness. Now you think about Christ when

he was on trial before Pontius Pilate, he witnessed a good

confession. Pilate at the point of hearing

the declarations and the accusations of Christ, said I

find nothing wrong with this man.

He's done nothing wrong. We should let him go and he

basically, you know, washed his hands of the whole thing because

there is no sin that could be pointed out in the person of

Christ. What he says, what Jesus says is

always true. You can count on Christ every

day of your life. He's the one that gives you

absolute reality and he's the one that's promised you.

I am the way, I am the truth. I am the life.

No man comes to the Father but through me.

And we're living in a time, folks, where the world and the

school systems are trying to invade your mind to tell you

that Christ isn't the true one. Every assault of hell is against

the forces of the Kingdom of God in these days that we live to

dismantle and diminish the authority and lordship of Jesus

Christ. There's a attack against the

sovereignty and the holiness of God and the days that we live to

try to dismantle your faith and mine.

But Christ is the one that overcomes all the ideologies of

man. The ones that conflict with the

truth is always going to be present because that's the way

it's been since the beginning of time when the devil said to Adam

and Eve hath not God said trying to distort the truth of the word

of God. But we can rest in the person of

Christ because he is the faithful witness.

People might laugh at you because you believe what he says

and you follow what he teaches, but don't worry about that.

Your reward will be great in the Kingdom of heaven when he says

to you, well done, good and faithful servant, you want to be

a faithful witness as well. This like Christ has been a

faithful witness on our behalf. And then it says he's the first

born from the dead. Interesting definition there.

But this is reflecting on his resurrection.

There was other people that Christ rose from the dead.

Think of, you know, those in history that even didn't have to

go through death, like Elijah and Enoch.

But Christ is the first one to rise in glory from being once

dead. All the others that rose at the

time from the dead were returned back to their earthly life.

But Christ was glorified, and the same life that he received

through His resurrection is a life that He provides you and I,

that we also receive. It's an everlasting life.

It's a life that's given to us by the only life giver.

And then it says that He's the ruler of the kings over the

earth. What a comforting word this is

to me this day and I hope to you.

Our confidence, I hope, is not in the political rulers of this

world. They all fail.

They all pass on and they all eventually die, But this roller,

the Lord Jesus, the King over all the earth, he's the

sovereign King. He's the one that appoints and

takes down according to his plan and be encouraged.

As I said, the earthly leaders of this world are slowly fading

away. That's a blessing.

It's a blessing that that evil roller in roam that empire

eventually was taken down. All those ungodly rulers that

persecuted Christians were all eventually destroyed and they

eventually died. Adolf Hitler, the one who

created the persecution for the Jews, is dead.

Stalin and Lenin are dead even though they created great havoc.

God is merciful and history moves on.

We look back in history to remember the horrible things

that happened and to understand that with the wrong kind of

leaders, terrible things can happen in this world.

But Christ is the one who sits on the throne, so nothing's out

of control, even though at times you might think it is.

He's allowing these things to happen, to come to pass, so that

one day he can soon return. This is the one Jesus who loved

us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

Well, I'll tell you, it doesn't get any better than that, does

it? The one who loved you and washed

you in his own blood. I'd underline that circle with

highlighted can be reminded of it frequently.

Because no one could have done this for you but Him.

To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own

blood, the greatness of our Lord.

Amen. No one but Jesus can do this for

you and for me. We can't earn it, we don't

deserve it, but He did it for us because He loves us.

Perfect love. When you consider this and you

think about this, this price that He paid for you, I'll tell

you guys, I mean, I need to repent daily.

Why does our minds forget so easily the sacrifice that Jesus

paid for us? Why the times that we take it so

lightly? This death of Christ died for

you and me. It shows that our hearts are

still hard at times and they still are indifferent.

And I think that's a good verse to get on our face before the

Lord at times privately and review it and then allow your

heart to pour out to Him. Lord, I'm so thankful that you

love me, that you do love me, and that You have shed your

blood for me. You have washed me from all my

sins, not just a few of them, that He's washed me from all my

sins. In the picture of the cleansing

of sin, the purification, the covering of the blood, there's

no medium or product given upon the face of the earth through

modern technology that can cover sin.

Only the blood of Jesus can cover our sin.

It breaks the bondages in our lives.

It breaks the habits and the life besetting sins, the things

that before we gave our hearts to Christ, the things that

mastered us and controlled us, we were slaves to their control.

And the good news is when the blood is shed and it's covering

us of our sins, we are set free and we don't have to live the

way we used to live. And some of us are deceived

thinking that, well, yeah, I know I'm saved and I know you

know, Christ did all this stuff, but I still have this desire and

I still have this attitude, and I still have this want and all

this. All I can encourage you is get

on your face before God and proclaim the truth that Jesus

has washed you from all your sins.

And that means he's broken the bondage, the power for sin to

reign and roll over your life. Let's go back to the Word and be

reminded of what is true and turn your back away from the

lives I know in your lives. As you're walking before the

Lord, you're changing little by little.

And I am too. And I look at my life back all

those years I've lived so far, and I marvel that I'm not the

same person I used to be. I'm sure you marvel when you

look at your own life. I know I'm not perfect yet, but

I know that I'm not what I used to be and I can't get over that.

It blows my mind that I don't want to do this anymore.

I don't want to do that anymore. I'm not interested in, you know,

so many things that used to captivate me.

And it's the work of God's Spirit.

It's the work of His grace. It's the work of the power of

His blood in my life and in yours.

It washes us. It frees us from selfish hearts,

from hot tempers, from lustful passions and self-centered

living. That's what the blood does.

When you look at someone and you say, boy, you know, they seem to

have a servant heart. They care about people more than

they care about themselves. But don't give that person the

credit. Give Jesus a credit.

He's the one through his blood that's done that in that

person's heart. The person used to flip out and

say all kind of angry things and had a temper that was always

unruly and volatile. The person's life changes and

now they're peaceful. They don't respond the same way.

Why? Because of the blood of Jesus,

the man or woman or teenager that used to find their kicks on

pornographic imagery and sexual immorality and fornication and

all the evil things that we're all capable of and many of us

have committed. The blood washes us and frees us

from lustful passions. The focus isn't upon you or me

anymore of what I can get out of life or what's best for me, but

what can I do to give my life away for the sake of Christ and

the sake of others? Christ's blood transforms us,

doesn't it? It changes us.

And if you're still the same and you haven't changed and

something's wrong, either you haven't really been converted

yet and you haven't really repented, and you haven't been

born again yet and you haven't been saved, or you have had some

bad teaching and you understand all the promises that are yours

in Christ Jesus. But Christ himself, He's the one

that has loved you and has washed you from your sins in His

blood. I remember that old song.

Would you be free from your burden of sin?

There's power in the blood, power in the blood.

Would you do service for Jesus your king?

There's wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonder, working power in the precious

blood of the lamb. There is.

There's power, wonder, working power in the blood of the lamb.

Really, really powerful guys. In verse 6 it says, and he's

made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory

and dominion forever and ever, Amen.

Do you know today that we are kings and priests of the most

high God? And He's made us this way so

that you can represent Him to others, so that they can come

and get healing from their brokenness and their ruined

lives. That people you run into who

know they're sick and need a physician will come to you to

find out about the Savior so He can cleanse them and heal them

and deliver them and save them, just like He's saved and healed

and delivered you. Amen.

The function of the priestly office in the Old Testament was

a mediator role where the Old Testament Jews had to deal with

a priest who went in and made intercession for them and made

atonement on the ark for their sins.

In Hebrews chapter 10/19, though it says Now we having boldness,

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

brethren, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which

is consecrated through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, we

can enter in boldly by the blood of Jesus.

We are digging into the Book of Revelation here on Living Waters

of Grace. Pastor Clark is tackling this

challenging book as we try to discern the messages that are

within its pages. There's so much imagery, and at

times you're not always sure what's literal and what's

metaphorical. At one point, there's a

reference to an adulterous woman riding on a beast.

And as someone else mentioned, at one point it almost sounds

like a rodeo from hell. And in actuality it kind of is.

You learn about the downfall and demise of a sinful and

rebellious world, falling down in worship to someone who is the

anti hero, the enemy, Satan working his insidious ways into

the minds of fallen people. It's sad and it's heartbreaking,

but it's a classic story of good versus evil.

Thankfully, we know how this story ends.

Jesus wins, Jesus reigns, and evil is conquered once and for

all. We pray and trust you've

received Jesus as your savior. But if you haven't, don't wait

until the events in Revelation become what's happening on the

streets. None of us wants you to be there

at that time. Instead, we'd love for you to be

with us in heaven as we celebrate the marriage supper

with Jesus as his bridegroom. To get a better understanding of

where we are in the Book of Revelation, to listen to any

messages before or after this one, you can find them at our

website, calvarychapelonline.com.

That's it for today's edition, but we hope you'll want to hear

Pastor Clark teach more from the Book of Revelation.

It can be exciting to think about the future for believers,

but it can feel a bit harrowing for those who don't believe.

Come here more next time on Living Waters of Grace.