Living Waters of Grace 09.30.25

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.

The repentance that Peter's preaching about is a change of

mind. You might be here today and

God's challenging you to change your thinking, change your mind.

He's not telling you you got to be perfect.

You got to act perfect because you can't be perfect.

Only He's perfect. But He's saying that I will take

your hand and show you a new way to live.

And I was at that point ready for a new way to live, and he

gave me new life. No matter how hard you and I

try, we cannot live up to God's standard of perfection.

Our hearts are stained by sin and we are unworthy of God's

presence. But Pastor Clark reminds us that

by the blood of Jesus, we have a new way to gain access to the

Father's throne room. When we repent of our sins and

commit our lives to Jesus, he calls us to a new way of living.

While we will never live up to that perfect standard, Jesus

lifts our heads. It reminds us that in him we are

made righteous and holy. Now here's Pastor Clark in Acts

Acts 5 · chapter mention

Chapter 5 with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.

So here we are today, where we're viewed by people in the

House and the Congress and in the White House as troublemakers

that need to be silenced. Where are you and me in regard

to sharing our faith? I met with the evangelist at the

campus of Penn State College last week.

He's been a friend of mine for years, and he stands in front of

the science building. All these bright young brains

coming out of Penn State to go into incredible careers and he

would just talk and preach and share and give positions on what

is truth and students would engage with him.

Some would argue, some would listen, some would end up

believing and become Christians. Well, Gary told me now, he said,

Clark, it's so bad up here that anybody that's a student that

hears this will be really apprehensive about engaging me

in any kind of dialogue. Because they said what'll happen

is, is that the students will get blackballed on Facebook or

social media and they'll be held out as being like right wing

crazy people because they are interested in the gospel of

Christ. And they're concerned that

that'll be set up somehow in their resumes and they won't be

able to get jobs. And so they're like running

silent. Fortunately, he's he's allowed

to continually do that. Quite a wealthy man many years

ago made an endowment to the college that this would be the

deal, that there would be a preacher in front of the science

building until Jesus came being funded by some very wealthy

person. So they can't throw Gary off

campus. They just got to put up with

him, which is. Which is pretty cool, you know?

Yeah, So you have the situation, though, that in Jerusalem at the

time, I mean, it was definitely bad and and I would say worse

than what maybe we think we're experiencing right now.

The captain went with the officers and brought them

without violence. They feared the people would

unless they should be stoned. And when they brought them, they

set them before the council. And the high priest asked them

saying, did not we strictly command you not to teach in his

name? Like what?

What's up with you guys? We told you you can't do this.

And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and

intended to bring this man's blood on us.

So what? What's amazing is there was such

a a power in the early church that the whole city was aware of

the gospel. Unfortunately, the whole city of

Greensburg, I'm sure, is not aware of the Gospel, nor the

state of Pennsylvania, nor the United States of America, let

alone the rest of the world. Why?

Because we as Christians have been, I think, apathetic or

complacent in regard to sharing our faith when we have

opportunities to share it. I'm not talking about pushing

people with this stuff. There was a time when people

tell me about this before I believed I didn't want to hear

them. So I don't want to, I don't want

to hear about this stuff. So people would, you know,

respect me and my opinion and maybe pray for me, but they

wouldn't bug me about this stuff all the time.

But there has to be this opportunity to have conversation

with people that have views that are different than yours and

mine, not out of judgment, but out of love.

You want lost people to know that there's a God who loves

them and cares about them no matter what they've done.

He's a forgiving, merciful God that has to be in our hearts as

Christians, front and center. And the positions of that come

up, you know, nowadays in regard to human sexuality or, you know,

issues of when life is truly in the womb and positions of morals

and creation and all these things that are obviously very

viable truths that need to be communicated right to people

that don't know the other side. I mean, I think it's good to

have a, a, a conversation with someone who's an evolutionist,

you know, ridicule them and make fun of them and call them

stupid, whatever you want to find out why they think the way

they think and what causes them to have the position they have.

And then share some information that you have regarding Genesis

and what the Bible teaches about how mankind came into existence

in regard to the issue of jobs right now and all the people

that or complaining, there's no one that's out there that wants

to work well. No one ever asks the question,

why is there less people physically able to work?

Well, when you think about the number of lives that have been

taken over the last 30 years, if they weren't taken, there'd be a

lot of people that would be here that could work or do whatever.

They're not here. They weren't given a chance.

They were taken out before they were born.

So these kind of situations are things that have to be

communicated. And so are we afraid?

Are we different than these people here?

Because, well, what if they don't like me anymore?

What if they hate me? Or what if they reject me?

Or what if they you know, what if what if I got fired from my

job because I I have a position of Christian principles.

That's something you have to look down deep inside and know

that God does expect us to speak out about truth.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he's delivered out of

the hands of the enemy. So these guys are being accused

of filling the city with the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus

with that's that's a good thing, right?

And then these guys are complaining, well, you're

bringing this man's blood on us. They forget that months ago when

they were standing and Pilot was there saying this man is

innocent. I refuse to be held culpable for

his demise. He's washing his hands as a

symbol that he's not guilty. Pilot's saying, you know, I'm

not going to be guilty of this man's blood on my hands.

And they yelled, yelled out, well, let his blood be on our

hands. The masses cried out.

So it's already true that the man's blood of the crucifixion

of Christ is on everyone who's rejected Christ and who's lived

willful, sinful lives to realize they're responsible for the

crucifixion. So Peter and the other apostles

answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men.

Now the Bible tells us that we have authorities in office to

keep the Commonwealth safe from the governing officials to the

police departments, all these kind of things.

We're told to respect these people that have rollover us.

That's in the Bible. But there comes a time where you

may have to decide that there's certain things you're being told

you can or cannot do that are against your constitutional

rights and your Christian liberties.

Where you can say, well, I respect your opinion, but I have

to obey God rather than man to stand up for what the truth is.

And this is what Peter said. Now, this guy was a guy that was

a wimp, freaking out whenever they asked him.

Before Jesus was crucified, you were with him, weren't you one

of his followers? No, I never knew him.

I never saw him. He's cursing.

You know, he's he's he's doing all he can to get out of the

issue of being connected with Jesus.

How different it is now that he's still with the power of the

Holy Spirit and he's able to boldly say we ought to obey God

rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up

Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.

Him God has exalted to his right hand to be Prince and savior.

That word Prince is translated as pioneer.

He was the first and only one that could die and come to life

again through resurrection. And because of what he's done,

we're all followers of him. We're also going to be

resurrected on that final day. We have life everlasting because

of what Christ has done for us. And then he continues preaching.

He says him, God has exalted to his right hand to be Prince and

Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

That's a good news thing, right? It's like repentance is turning

direction. Like I know my own life, you

know, and you know your life. There came a point in life where

I was hell bound. I was going on, I was on that

highway to hell, you know, and, and I didn't care.

And I that's the way I was. And this is how I rolled.

And this is what my life was like.

And then by the grace of God, through the prayers of a godly

mother and other people, praying for a son that was wayward and

lost and clueless and proud and arrogant and self-centered, that

my heart would be softened and I would be slightly interested in

this message of forgiveness in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So at 20 years old, I began to think there has to be more to

life than what I'm living and how I'm living.

And I wasn't happy anymore. I wasn't peaceful, I wasn't

satisfied. I, I didn't have any peace in my

life, had no joy. And then I'm confronted with

this message of the gospel and it began to really get to me and

it began to make me realize I needed to change my evil ways.

Remember that song by Santana? You've got to change your evil

ways. That was a big song back then

when I and I was, I was enjoying my evil ways.

Well, all of a sudden I wasn't having fun in evil ways anymore

and I knew I needed to change. But how do I change?

I can't change myself. And then the Lord began to teach

me that. I'll change you, Clark.

I'll make you new. I'll give you a new heart, a new

way of looking at things, a new mind.

I'll give you my Bible, the Word.

Or you can learn and understand what it means to be a follower

of me. That I'm still learning today

how to follow Him deeper and closer.

It doesn't end just when you become a believer.

The first day, it's a constant every day changing my mind about

the way I am and things that God wants to do different in my

heart or help me to see things in a deeper perspective.

The repentance that Peter's preaching about is a change of

mind. You might be here today and

God's challenging you to change your thinking, change your mind.

He's not telling you you've got to be perfect.

You've got to act perfect because you can't be perfect.

Only He's perfect. But He's saying that I will take

your hand and show you a new way to live.

And I was at that point ready for a new way to live.

And He gave me new life. He said if anyone is in Christ

as a new creation, old things pass away.

Behold, all things become new. And he said, and we are his

witnesses. Peter said, we are the

witnesses. That's what we are in this

church as Christians, as people, as brothers and sisters.

You know, you go to places, you know people I, I don't know and

vice versa. You have an opportunity to

spread this gospel, this witness to give people an opportunity to

understand what the Lord has done for you and what he can do

for them. We are witnesses to these

things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to

those who obey him. I'm so excited studying a book

of the Acts right now personally, because I know it's

energizing my life as a pastor and the other leaders in the

church. But I'm sure it's energizing you

too, to share the Lord. And I get more texts and phone

calls now than I have in a long time.

Pray for this person. I'm sharing the Lord with them.

Pray for that person that doesn't know Jesus or, you know,

this person's closed or this person became a believer,

whatever. I mean, it's, it's exciting

because the witness is what gets the gospel out.

And so the culture, as I said, can change based upon us talking

more about the good news, right? Talking about the good news,

telling people the good news. So there's this guy Gamaliel

here, and we're gonna read this and then we'll finish up in this

section. Gamaliel was a a leader in the

Jewish sect of the Pharisees, a very bright guy.

The Apostle Paul, before he got saved, sat at the feet of

Gamaliel. He was a very, very bright guy.

As a matter of fact, when he died, he was such a strict Jew

that they said when he died, the Jewish people weren't that on

fire about their faith anymore and they began to become laxed

in their following of the law and all that kind of stuff.

But anyway, he's going to give some advice here.

When they heard what Peter said this, they were furious and

plotted to kill them. I mean, this is the first time

in accident. They're just not mad and put him

in prison. We're gonna kill these guys and

get rid of him. Then one in the council stood

up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, held in

respect by all the people. He was respected by everyone and

commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little

while. Calm down, guys, Quiet down.

Put these guys out. I want to give you some other

perspective here. And he said that the men of

Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding

these men. Think about it.

He's speaking some sanity to him.

For some time ago, Thaddeus rose up claiming to be somebody.

This was a cult leader. A number of men, about 400,

joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed

him were scattered and came to nothing.

So in other words, this, this leader, at this time, this guy

Thaddeus, wasn't really effective when he died.

His movement, his, his plan, whatever it was, ended up coming

to nothing. Verse 37 After this man, there's

another guy they mentioned in their history.

Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away

many people after him. He also perished, and all who

obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, keep away

from these men and let them alone.

For if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing.

But if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest you even be

found to fight against God. Isn't that fascinating?

Over 2000 years ago, this thing has not ended being nothing, has

it? We're all here today, recipients

of the power of the gospel. Every one of these men, these

apostles except for one, the apostle John, were martyred,

Very serious ways of dying, being speared to death, being

hung, being put upside down on a cross, on and on and on.

Horrific deaths every apostle had except for John, They tried

to destroy him in boiling water, didn't work.

And he ended up this time of old age after down the road, after

he wrote the Book of Revelation. So he speaks truth to these guys

to think about what they're doing, and they agreed with him.

And this Gamaliel isn't even a Christian and he's not really

fascinated or interested in, even though he knows about the

miracles that have occurred. You know, there's a lot of

people that that believe historically that Jesus is real,

that he died, that he rose again, that he did miracles, but

they still don't believe. That's ironic.

It's just the pride in the heart that keeps us from humbling

ourselves and surrendering our lives to the will of God.

I fought that for years. I, I didn't, I turned my back on

this stuff. I'm so thankful that God and His

grace turned my life around so that I could commit my life to

following Jesus and wanting to be a witness, wanting to be a

better witness. So they agreed with him.

And when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they

commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and

they let them go. This wasn't a calm beating.

It was 39 lashes so bad that it ripped their skin apart.

People died from a blood hemorrhage from these kind of

beatings. So it wasn't a light discipline,

but they told them you guys should not speak in the name of

Jesus and let them go. It's interesting how it's

translated here. You should not speak in a

they're not saying you, you will not speak in the name of Jesus.

They're trying to like convince them because of the beating and

all this other stuff, you, you know, you really shouldn't be

doing this anymore. You're just creating more

problems for yourselves and pain and suffering.

So they departed from the presence of the Council,

rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his

name, Remarkable men that they were actually proud that they

went through this beating and the suffering and they were

associated with Jesus Christ. And I pray that would be the

case for us. Whenever we get pushed back or

people don't like us anymore, they, you know, condemn us or

accuse us or slander us or whatever about whatever in life

that we don't really focus on what people say or think.

We're just glad that we're affiliated with the Holy

Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that we are

representatives of the Creator God, and that we have the

privilege to live for Him and speak on behalf of Him and share

the Gospel with whoever will listen.

They were, they counted it worthy to suffer shame for His

name. Whenever you feel embarrassed or

shame because you're a follower of Jesus, read this chapter

again and be encouraged that you don't have to hold your head

down in shame. You can hold your head up high

knowing that one day, whenever you stand before the Lord and

give an account of how you lived your life, the things that'll

matter at that time is what you did for Jesus.

How you spoke up for Him, how you lived for Him, how you cared

for people. You're not responsible for the

results of who believes or who doesn't believe.

We can't make anybody believe that God uses your life and mine

to be a bridge between lost people in the Kingdom of God.

Then it finishes in verse 42. It says in daily, in the temple

and in every house. They did not cease teaching and

preaching Jesus as the Christ. Isn't that a wonderful way of

ending this chapter daily in the temple and in every house.

They did not cease. In other words, the directions

they were given by the governing authorities to not speak in the

name of Jesus was not followed. They did not stop teaching and

preaching Jesus as the Christ and I believe that's what we're

to do. We, you know, we don't stop

teaching or preaching the gospel because of what people say or

what they threaten us with. We just keep on doing what we're

called to do, right? To be witnesses of the Lord.

I pray this week He would give you opportunity to love on

people, love on your neighbors, love on your enemy, love on your

family, your friends, and share humbly the good news with

someone. Ask the Lord to give you one

person this week just to say something about God, what He's

done for you, how He's blessed you, how He's loved you, how

He's forgiven you, and that He wants to do that with every

human being, doesn't he? He wants to do that for every

human being. And the only way they'll know is

by us telling them, May God give you strength and me strength to

do that. We're so glad you joined us

today on this edition of Living Waters of Grace.

Pastor Clark is teaching through the Book of Acts, which is the

only book that chronicles the history of the early church

immediately after Jesus's ascension.

It gives us a front row seat to how the Gospel began to move

outwards, starting in Jerusalem and reaching into the heart of

the Roman Empire. In just three decades, a small

group of frightened ordinary believers became a bold, spirit

empowered movement that transformed the known world.

Acts is not just a history lesson.

It's a reminder of what God can do when His people are

surrendered, obedient and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Their perseverance still inspires us today.

May we follow their example and live faithfully for Christ in

our own time. We hope today's message

encouraged you. Living Waters of Grace is a

ministry of Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland.

If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we'd love to have you join

us in person. Our Sunday service begins at

10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B.

Be sure to visit calvarychapelonline.com to

confirm times and learn more. If you are in the Greensburg

area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency.

Please pray about supporting this outreach.

Gifts can be sent to Grace FMPO Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601.

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Thank you for tuning in and spending this time in God's

Word. Be sure to join us again for

Living Waters of Grace.