Living Waters of Grace 10.30.25

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

Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,

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

continues teaching through God's Word.

Who am I not to forgive other people of their sins?

It goes hand in hand. We're to be reconciled to God,

but to be reconciled to one another.

And for the life of me, I don't understand how we as human

beings, probably because we're just still sinners and we were

screwed up at times and fallen or whatever, messed up in our

heads that someone does something to you that hurts you

or wounds you or upsets you or betrays you.

And then you want to cop an attitude.

You want to get bitter and you want to get angry.

And I'm not going to forgive them because they don't forgive

me. When someone causes you pain,

whether it's physical or emotional, it's pretty common to

feel that urge to retaliate. Having to forgive someone isn't

quite as simple as it seems, but have you ever thought about how

your Creator chose to forgive you by allowing His only Son to

suffer on your behalf? Today, Pastor Clark invites you

to open your heart to the power of forgiveness.

God decided to reach out and mend things with you because of

his deep love for you. Can you do the same with others

now? Here's Pastor Clark in the book

of Acts Chapter 13 with today's edition of Living Waters of

Acts 13 · chapter mention

Grace. The focus of these things that

we're looking at here are emphasizing what God's done, the

focus on what God does. 11 times that God chose the fathers, He

made the people great. He led them out of Egypt.

He put up with them in the wilderness.

He destined 7 nations in the land to have their own space in

Canaan. He gave them land as an

inheritance. God gave them judges, he gave

them Saul, he raised up David. God brought Israel a savior

Jesus as he promised, and a prophet John who said he wasn't

worthy. This remarkable.

And so we continue in verse 26, men and brethren, this is Paul

again preaching sons of the family of Abraham.

They were proud that they were descendants of Abraham.

And you remember what Paul said, that God could raise up the

stones to give praise to God. There was nothing special in the

sense or entitlement of being a child of Abraham.

It didn't automatically guarantee you salvation unless

you believed so. There was really no distinction

between a Jewish person and a Gentile person in God's eyes.

He came first to his own. The Bible says his own received

him not, but his picture in his vision of humanity was to be a

savior for the whole world and all people, men and brother and

sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who fear

God, this is the Gentiles to you.

The word of this salvation has been sent for those who dwell in

Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him,

nor even the voices of the prophets which are read every

Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him.

And through and though they found no cause for death in Him,

they asked Pilate that he should be put to death.

Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him,

they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead, and he was seen by many as

he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from

Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people.

So the ignorance of the nation of Israel, they're studying the

law and the prophets every Saturday.

Why was it that they couldn't understand or know him?

That's the mystery. God bless you.

That's the mystery. You can be here today hearing

the Word and maybe half hearing it, or your mind's wandering, or

maybe you're here and I don't have a clue what this guy's

talking about. That was them.

And there are people like that every Sunday in churches all

around the world that can be in a building and hearing the

truth, but they're really not hearing it unless God gives us

ears to hear and eyes to see, right?

That's the mystery. It only can happen through the

work of the Holy Spirit. And when Jesus came, I think one

of the issues that Israel had was they were anticipating this

world king and all this majesty and all this.

He came as a humble servant. Matter of fact, it tells us in

Philippians 2, He made himself of no reputation.

He didn't have horns and trumpets blowing about His

greatness and His deity and that He's truly God Incarnate in the

flesh, the one that they were to receive and believe on.

He came humble and just did His ministry, and many did follow

and believe and become saved, but the majority of people

didn't. And to this day the Bible says

that the road that leads the life is narrow and few there

aren't find it. But the road that leads the

destruction is broad and many are on that path.

And so they were so compelled against His message that they

felt it was their responsibility to have him crucified.

And so they asked Pilate in verse 28 that he should be put

to death. Now, when you think about these

things, this religious tradition that these people were so

enamored by and so into, they, they thought they were

righteous. The religious people thought

they were right, righteous. I mean, there's churches today,

guys, and some of you have come from them guys and gals that

you, you know, you look back, you say, I never heard anything

like this. I heard try to be good, do

better, you know, every week and a guilt trip, you know, and I'd

come and I know like I'm failing and this just isn't working.

And that's what stopped me from going to church as a young man.

I just this is just impossible. This does not make sense.

Who can live this way because I was compelled to live away

opposite of what the Bible teaches because of my sin.

It tells us a little bit about our condition as Paul's

preaching this gospel. Keep in mind that the book of

Romans wasn't written yet, but it would be written based upon

these texts in this context of what he's preaching about in the

book of the Acts in Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

Many of you familiar with this, but I want to read it for those

of you who may not be familiar with it, It tells us in verse

21. But now the righteousness of God

apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and

the prophets, even the righteousness of God through

faith in Jesus Christ to all and all who will believe.

So that's taken basically right from what he's preaching in Acts

right now, that no one, including Jewish people, can be

justified by following the 10 commandments.

It's not that we disrespect the 10 commandments or don't think

they're valid. They're there's consequences of

breaking the law and we all know what it is.

But every one of us have broken the law, right?

Every one of us. And, and Paul's clarifying to

them as people who were conditioned to think they had to

be perfect, that they cannot be justified by the law.

And he said it's through faith in Jesus Christ that we are

justified to all and all who believe, for there is no

difference for all of sin and fallen short of the glory of

God. So everybody, you know,

including yourself, have fallen short of God's glory.

We have not met his perfect standard, which is perfection.

So the whole world is guilty before God.

And then he says we're the good news in the next section.

We're being justified freely by his grace through the

redemption. It is in Christ Jesus.

So there's no payment. There's no work that you and I

have to do. There's nothing we could do good

enough to to save ourselves. This is completely a gift of God

for each of us who would receive it.

Now we get it because we've received it.

Maybe you're here today and you've never received it.

So the good news is you can receive this gift of being saved

by his grace from your sin. Meaning there's no need for

guilt or regret or feeling condemned or unworthy.

But God accepts you as you are, a Sinner, which we all are, but

a Sinner who needs either to be saved by grace or judged one day

because they refused to come to Christ.

And so it says that God set forth as a propitiation, A

sacrifice by his blood through faith to demonstrate His

righteousness. Because of his forbearance, God

has passed over the sins that were previously committed to

demonstrate at the present time as righteousness that He might

be just and a justifier, the one who has faith in Jesus Christ.

So the law is God's righteous standard, and the law demands

100% adherence and obedience, which is impossible for any of

us to do, to be accepted by God based upon our own

righteousness. And so Paul's message was a new

message to all these people. They had never heard this in the

synagogue ever. And maybe some of you have never

heard this either. I don't know, but today this is

not being proclaimed in most places that call themselves

churches. Someone told me a little earlier

today, it's better to be in a church that feeds you than makes

you feel good. But the good news is another

person said, well, can we have both?

Yeah, we can. If we hear the word and we do it

and we listen and we follow on, we believe, you know, God bless

us, doesn't he? But the good news is that God

accepts us in because of Jesus. He changes our lives and we also

see others this way. If God has been so good to me to

reconcile me to himself and forgive me all my sins, who am I

not to forgive other people of their sins?

It goes hand in hand. We're to be reconciled to God,

but to be reconciled to one another.

And for the life of me, I don't understand how we as human

beings, probably because we're just still sinners and we were

screwed up at times and fallen or whatever, messed up in our

heads that someone does something to you that hurts you

or wounds you or upsets you or betrays you.

And then you want to cop an attitude.

You want to get bitter and you want to get angry.

And I'm not going to forgive them because they don't forgive

me. And so we basically, you know,

invalidate not from our salvation point of view, but

from our relation point of view, the power of the gospel that can

make us in love with one another and in love with God no matter

what. Forgiving 70 * 7 getting over

stuff that bothers us and not letting it like mess with our,

our calm, the peace of God. And so Jesus said, by this way

of living, this love, this way of living, people will know

you're my disciples, right? The only way they're going to

know we belong to the Lord isn't by all the stuff we say.

But how do we love each other? That's the most important thing,

isn't it? How do we love each other?

How do we forgive each other? And so this beauty of this

truth, I think in Ephesians 432 it says be kind, tender hearted,

forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, I've

forgiven you. So when I think about all that

the Lord has done to forgive me, who am I to not forgive other

people? This word justified means to

have our sins forgiven in such a way.

That's God's honor and His Holiness and integrity are

presented and preserved by it. God doesn't ignore our sins.

He didn't say, oh, I forgive you, no big deal, don't worry

about it. But he does in a way when he

puts our sin on Jesus Christ, he says, Clark, don't worry about

what you've done in the sins you've committed, because I've

forgiven you through the perfection of the one who lived

the law 100%, who shed his blood and died for you.

And my wrath and my anger that really should be poured out upon

you was placed on my son Jesus Christ.

Isn't that awesome? He accepts us and forgives us

because of what Jesus has done for us.

God's justice is an attribute. He's a holy God.

He says without holiness, no man will see the Lord.

It's not your holiness that presents you acceptable to God.

It tells us in Ephesians that we're accepted in the beloved

holy and without blame. You and I are accepted in the

person of Jesus Christ being holy and without blame.

We'll never be accepted in ourselves as being holy and

without blame. It's in him.

It's completely in Him. And so God found a way to lay

the guilt and sins of our lives upon Jesus.

Sin must be judged. Sin must be atoned for.

There's a reparation for an offence.

The satisfaction of God's perfect justice is the fact that

there's no compromise for sin that had to be paid for and God

only could do it through Christ. God forgave you and me through

the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

That's why Jesus said, and we're called bigots and close minded

people because we believe this because there is no other way.

Jesus said I am the way, I am the truth.

I am the life. No man comes to the Father but

through me. The only way you can be forgiven

and be acceptable to your creator God is through what I've

done for you. That's what he's saying and

everybody says, well why can't there be another way there?

There can't be anybody else but Jesus that can die for you and

forgive you because He's God Incarnate.

He's gone in the flesh, He's perfect, He's the perfect

sacrifice. Buddha, Krishna, all these other

people, they might have been nice people, but they can't

atone for your sin because they're sinful people.

And so in Acts 412, if you skip over in your Bible to the left,

Acts 412, this clarifies it. It says the stone in verse 11,

which was rejected by you builders.

He's talking about Israel and the nation of Israel, which has

become the chief cornerstone, Jesus as the chief cornerstone.

They rejected him trying to build a ministry and a synagogue

and whatever without the core person, Jesus Christ.

And then it says, nor is there salvation in any other.

For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which

we must be saved. Amen.

There is no other name. That's why we're called to

proclaim Christ. That's where we're what we're

called to teach the Word of God, the whole council, the word of

God, not part of it, but every verse of it so that people can

hear. And the picture of justification

is full acceptance. God fully accepts you as you are

because you're in Christ. And so today you and I have a

choice. We can accept the death of the

Lord Jesus on our behalf and his life that he gives to us, and we

can be free from all the things that we've done and messed up

with, which are ton. I know mine have been a ton from

I, I can be freed. You can be freed from all these

things. God's love is poured out upon us

and begins to heal our scars, our hurt, our anguish, our

broken lies, and we begin to be more whole And the basis of

being justified by faith. Amen.

And justification is not a past tense concept.

I'm justified yesterday, I'm justified today, and I'm

justified tomorrow, as you are too.

Because we still sin. We still make mistakes, we still

act in ways or say things that we shouldn't think, things we

shouldn't think. And this atoning blood that

keeps us pure and justified and forgiving and cleanse is present

tense. If we confess our sins, He is

faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, isn't He?

And to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.

Anybody still have unrighteousness in your life?

Yeah, we all do, right? Aren't you glad that the blood

and never loses its power and and and the mistakes aren't to

condemn us. We we know where we go to get

free from this stuff so that we're not disturbed in our heart

and our minds by stuff that we can't fix or change.

It's happened. How wonderful, how marvelous

what our Savior's done for us. So when all these things have

been fulfilled, in verse 29, it was written concerning him.

They took him down from the tree, laid him in a tongue.

God raised him from the dead. Acts 1331.

He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from

Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people.

And we declare to you glad tidings that promise which is

made to the Father's. God has fulfilled this for us,

their children, in that He has raised up Jesus, as it is

written in the second Psalm. You are my Son today I've

begotten you this again, the prophecies that have been

fulfilled by Jesus and that he raised him up from the dead.

No more to return to corruption. He spoke and I will give you the

sure mercies of David. Therefore he also says in

another Psalm, you will not allow your holy one to see

corruption. Jesus when he was put in the

tomb body didn't decompose, wasn't corrupt.

You put me or you in the in the grave and go by a week later and

dig it up. Guess what the worms, the ants,

everything's all over. It's I don't want to gross you

out, but it's like starting to like this deteriorate and

eventually it's just nothing but bones there.

OK, Christ didn't have to go through that.

And because He didn't have to go through that, when we die, we

don't stay in that grave, in that body.

We are absent in the body, and we're present with the Lord for

all eternity. For David, after he served his

own generation, by the will of God, he fell asleep.

Great leader, loved God, God used him, but he died like we

all do. He was buried with his father's.

His body saw corruption, but he whom God raised up saw no

corruption. Therefore let it be known to

you, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the

forgiveness of sins. And by him everyone who believes

is justified from all things from which you could not be

justified by the Law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest what has

been spoken and the prophets come upon you, behold, you

despisers marvel and perish. For I work a work in your days,

a work which you will by no means believe, though one word

He declare it to you. So this beauty here of the

message that we're hearing today was so powerful when it was

first preached in the synagogue. Over 2000 years ago.

It's the same message that is powerful today, that can change

and save lives. Amen.

It can completely give people a brand new start, a fresh start

with God. I preached this message before I

went away on vacation and I felt I needed to preach it again

because I find that in my own life at times I forget the

basics. The basics.

Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells

me so. For God so loved this world that

he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him

should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the

world, that that the world through him might be saved.

The more I meditate on these things personally, my wife and

I, as we talk about this stuff and pray about it and endeavor

to live it out, I'm made more and more aware of how powerful

and how special this message is that God has granted to us to

experience on a daily basis. No condemnation, no guilt, no

matter what people will try to throw on you at times, you don't

have to receive that because God doesn't throw that on you, does

He? When people say hurtful things

or do mean things to you, or slander you, or call you all

kind of whatever, May God give us grace to remind ourselves

that God never says that about us.

He never thinks that way about us.

Each of us are the apple of His eye.

He loves us with and everlasting love.

He's redeemed us. He paid for us with His precious

blood, and He says to you and me that we were worth saving.

He gave it all for us because He saw something in us that none of

us can see in ourselves. He sees value, He sees His

likeness, He sees His creation, and He gave it all that He might

redeem this creation and bring broken people away from

desolation, bring people that hearts are broken back to

healing, bring people who have been destroyed by a life of sin

to a new life of having victory and power over sin, becoming new

creations in Christ, new creatures in Christ.

We no longer have to live under the enslavement of the power of

sin. That's the gospel, isn't it?

That's what we need to continually be reminded of every

time we gather that this is who our God is and how great he is,

and leave with our shoulders lifted, our heads looking up and

having hope and joy for tomorrow in a world that seems to be

decaying and falling apart. The good news is you aren't

decaying and falling apart, are you?

Are you getting older? Yeah, that looks like a decay,

right? But you know the best is yet to

come for us, right? The best is yet to come for us.

So be encouraged. Thanks for joining us on today's

edition of Living Waters of Grace, a ministry of Calvary

Chapel, Westmoreland. Today, Pastor Clark is teaching

about the Book of Acts, And as we learn more about Acts, it

becomes clear that the early church didn't miss a single

opportunity to share the Gospel. In nearly every chapter, you see

apostles like Peter and Paul stepping into conversations,

crowds, and crises with boldness, ready to proclaim the

name of Jesus. Their example challenges us to

consider how we might step into gospel moments in our own lives.

What doors might God open this week for you to speak truth,

offer hope, or live out your faith in a way that points

others to him? The story of Acts reminds us we

are part of the same mission. Today, let's live with eyes open

and hearts ready to respond. We hope you are challenged by

today's message. If you're in the Greensburg, PA

area, we'd love to see you in person this Sunday at 10:30 AM

at 400 E Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B.

For more information, visit calvarychapelonline.com.

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Living Waters of Grace.