Living Waters of Grace 08.26.25

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.

They have no access to that anymore.

It's done right now. Even unbelievers are seeing

mercy. They're seeing the grace of God

right now, and we who believe are seeing it.

But there's going to come a day when those who do not believe

will no longer have access to His forgiveness or access to His

grace or His mercy. That may be the worst part.

I'm judging him. Every breath you breathe is

God's grace at work. If you could see things from His

perspective, you'd likely see many more specific examples of

the way He protects and keeps you from events or paths that

would lead you to destruction. In this moment, there's nothing

you can do to exceed the limits of that grace.

But as Pastor Lewis will warn in today's message, a day is coming

when His grace will be retracted, and only those who

have accepted it will spend eternity with him.

Now here's Pastor Lewis in the Book of Second Thessalonians,

chapter one with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.

These are things that are evident or that should be

evident in our own lives. We should have this, this faith

that should be growing, you know, and we and we do that by

doing, we're doing the day we, we're, we're in the word of God

and we do it in prayer and we're doing it through fellowship.

And it allows our faith to grow even in the midst of whatever

problems are going on. It's a blessing that we can come

here because outside of here, people are going nuts.

They're looking for answers everywhere and they don't have

any solutions. They don't have any answers.

And they're bouncing this way. They're bouncing that way.

They're believing in this person, they're believing in

that person. That theology or that

philosophy, it's everywhere out there.

But when you come here and you're in the Word of God, we

here together help to encourage each other to keep on, to keep

on. Just keep on.

Stay in the way, stay in the Word of God, stay in prayer,

keep Him number one, trust in Him, trust in his Word.

And that's the three pillars that we have that faith that

that love. But no, we also have the

patience. What helps us to be able to do

that is the fact that we have patience.

And that patience is because of the fact that we know we're

anticipating the return of Jesus Christ.

This ain't going to last forever.

Trouble doesn't last all ways. We are going to have a time of

rejoicing, a time of re glorification.

We're going to have a time that we are going to be able to spend

with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not the end of the story

for us. This is not the end of the

story. This is just the beginning of a

great eternity that's going to happen when Jesus Christ, our

Lord and Savior comes back. Amen.

And that's what we're hoping for.

And that's the patience that they have, and they're waiting

for that. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord.

Second Titus. Two.

I'm sorry, Titus 213. Just want to go there for a

second, Titus, I'm going to start right there.

Verse 11211. It says for the grace of God

that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us

that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live

soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for

the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and

Savior Jesus Christ. Amen, Amen.

That's what we're looking for so we can be patient in the midst

of all this and that's why they were patient in the midst of it

because they were looking for the blessed hope of the return

of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So then we go to verse to verse 5 here.

Now verse 5 is a verse that's kind of complicated, so we want

to slow it down just a little bit.

But it says here, which is manifest evidence of the

righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the

Kingdom of God for which you also suffer.

So what Paul is saying here is, you know, he says the fact that

you were going through these persecutions, the fact that you

were going through these these trials and these tribulations,

and you're going through it with patience, that is visible

evidence or visible proof of the righteous judgment of God.

Now, some would say, well, if you're going through that, then

is God really with you? If you're going through all

that? That's the kind of doubt that

the world likes to try to put in.

You know, if you're going through all these problems and

you're, you know, you're, you're, you're being oppressed

and you're being, you know, persecuted, is God really with

you? You sure he hasn't rejected you?

The answer to that question is no answer.

That question is no. Paul says the reason why you're

going through it or the reason it's a blessing that you were

going through it, because as you go through that, that is the

visible proof and the way that you endure it.

The your response to it is visible proof that God is

righteous in making you worthy of the Kingdom.

This is what papa's saying. He looks at it totally

different. No, this is God making you.

This is God saying that you are worthy of the Kingdom.

And you look at the old prophets.

Jesus even thought about the old prophets.

He said, look, and you go through those persecutions and

all those things, rejoice, rejoice because the prophets

before you went through it, because great is your reward in

heaven. Great is your reward in heaven.

Now we're not saying here, this is not saying that suffering

makes you worthy of heaven, and nor is it saying that we add

anything to the finished work of Christ.

That's not what we're saying. That's not what Paul is saying

here at all. We don't add anything to what

Christ already did with our suffering, you know, nor does

our suffering make us deserving of heaven.

It's not like we get brownie points because we suffer.

That's not what Paul is saying here.

But what Paul is saying is that the suffering brings out the

proof or the evidence that God is working in you, that God is,

that God's power is upon you, his his grace is upon you, that

you are able to endure it. And that's the this is the

visible evidence of that. And that's not just the visible

evidence to God. God already knows it.

The evidence that we show, first of all, we show to ourselves

that God is with us in helping us to get through it, but also

to other people, they see it. And that's the testimony that

gives glory to God. That's the testimony that gives

glory to God. So the suffering's in the work.

That's just God working through us and he's the one that makes

us worthy. It's by his grace that we are

worthy. So endurance and suffering

proves that God's judgment of them that Thessalonian church

was right and shows their fitness for the Kingdom.

So in verse 6, now he goes and says, since it is a righteous

thing with God to repay with tribulation those who who

trouble you, pay with tribulation those who trouble

you. You know the one thing we must

understand that it is a righteous judgment of God that

He keeps his promises. He keeps his promises to the to

the, to the, to the sinners and he keeps his promises to the

believers. I was always taught when I was

younger that unrepentant sin is judged and faithfulness is

rewarded. Now we know that God is loving

because this is the issue that always comes up.

But wait a minute, how can a righteous and loving God, you

know, how can he send somebody to hell?

How can he judge somebody that always comes up?

Yes, God is loving. Yes, God is grace, God is

merciful, but we also must look at God as being holy.

God is righteous and God is just.

So Paul says it is a righteous thing with God to repay

tribulation for those who trouble you.

So those who are unrepentant sinners and who are troubling

those who are believers right now, they may think they're on

top of it, like they're ahead of the game, like everything is

going perfect for them. Everything is our way, and

nothing seems to be going your way.

Boy, I wouldn't want to be you. I don't want to be you.

You know, look at you. Like, man, I don't want to live

like that. Yeah, that's the way they feel

now. But just like Lazarus and the

rich man, the tables turned and it got to the point where, in

fact, Lazarus, you know, when Lazarus was what was in the

world, he was a beggar and the rich man had it all.

He had it all. It was all going his way.

Everything was According to him. But then when they both died and

and and had to go and see the Lord, the tables turned.

Lazarus was the one that was receiving the good things, and

it was a rich man that was dealing with the judgment and

the torment. And this is, and Paul is saying

that that's what's going to happen here.

Those who trouble you, they're going to receive tribulation,

they're going to receive trouble.

But you, it's a righteous thing with God that for you, you are

given rest. You're giving rest with us.

So Paul said we're all going to enjoy the rest of God.

We're going to enjoy that the rest with Jesus Christ.

And that word rest here actually means relief or a release from

trouble. It's a release from our

laborers, from persecution, from affliction.

It's the turning of the tables. So we look forward to that.

I could imagine, I can imagine that those who were back in the

Thessalonian Church, who was going through all that

persecution, they're probably waking up every day looking to

see that. Is my enemies drop dead yet?

They drop dead yet. Have they been judged yet?

It's not quite going to happen that way.

But when he returns, that's when they will see the judgment of

God. When would this happen?

When the Lord you can see it here in verse the bottom of

verse 7 when it says when the Lord is revealed from heaven

with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on

those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel

of Jesus Christ. Now there's fire that we talk

about here. We see it so often in the Word

of God and it represents always represents one of two things,

fire that represents the presence of God or represents

the judgement of God. And usually where the believers

are concerned, it represents the very presence or power of God.

And that's why it was when a burning Bush that Moses was able

to talk to God or God spoke to Moses through a burning Bush.

It was the presence of God. When they came on the mountain,

that mountain would appear to be on fire.

The smoke and the fire and the thunderings of the mountain,

that was the presence of God. They were led by a pillar of

fire at night because it was the presence of God.

But then the judgement of God is for the unbelievers.

Fires represent the judgement of God.

We see that where the, when, when Elijah called down fire

from heaven and burned up the, the, the, the, the soldiers of

the king who wanted to do harm to Elijah, when the Lord burned

up Sodom and Gomorrah with fire. So that, that, that fire like a

judgement. But it also that fire is also a

refining fire for us. And when we go into the fire or

the Lord puts us into the fire, it refines us.

It, it, it, it tears off the bad things that we don't need.

And it keeps the very soul things that the, the, the, the,

the things that we do need. It helped it, it strengthens

those things in us. That too is done through the

fire of God. So it's interesting because in

some reports you see that it talks about the Lord coming with

clouds. And that's when we, we who are

looking forward to him coming, you know, that's us looking.

We see him coming in the clouds. You know, that's that's for the

believers to rejoice in. But for the unbelievers, they're

going to see him coming in flaming fire because vengeance,

he's coming to put vengeance to strike vengeance on

unbelievable. He's coming with judgement.

He's coming with judgement and he talks about two groups, the

people that he's going to be distributing vengeance to, those

who do not know God. Many believe that they are the

Gentile unbelievers, those who do not know God.

The Bible talks in several places of Gentiles as being

those who do not know God, and also on those who do not obey

the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that would be like your unbelieving Jews.

They know God, but they're not obeying the gospel of God.

They're not believing Jesus Christ as being the Messiah, so

they too are going to be judged as well.

Either way, for those of us who believe, it's going to be a

glorious day. But for those of us who don't

believe, it's going to be her horrific day either way.

And then we go to verse 9 and in verse 9 he says there, you know,

these shall be punished from everlasting destruction, with

everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from

the glory of his power. And when you consider this

statement, this may be the worst part of judgment.

This may be the worst part of judgment, the separation from

God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, eternal

separation. That means they are no longer

have any access to His grace. They no longer have any access

to His forgiven, His forgiveness.

They no longer have any access to His mercy.

They no longer have any access to any of those things.

The power of God, they have no access to that anymore.

It's done right now. Even unbelievers are seeing

mercy. They're seeing the grace of God

right now, and we who believe are seeing it.

But there's going to come a day when those who do not believe

will no longer have access to His forgiveness or access to His

grace or His mercy. That may be the worst part of

judgement, and that's for eternity.

That's for eternity. Right now an unbeliever can

repent and have access to not only God's grace, but His mercy,

His forgiveness, and he can receive the Kingdom of heaven.

But there's going to come a time where that can't happen, That

can't happen, so the consequences will be final.

That may be the worst part of judgment, in my opinion.

And then we go to verse 10. It says when he comes in that

day to be glorified in his sense and to be admired among all

those who believe, because our testimony among you was

believed. So he's coming with, He's

coming, He's going to return and he's going to return.

And for his Saints, it's going to be glorious.

Like we said, it's going to be a glorious day.

He's going to be magnified by those of us who believe.

That means he's going to be made larger and more evident and

they're going to see it in US. He's going to see it in US.

I mean, God is never more glorified than when we can look

at someone who is a trophy of his grace and His mercy.

There are people in our neighborhood, and I'm probably

one of them thinking about it. Didn't think I was at that time.

Thought I was OK. Now, they probably talk about me

like that, you know, but they probably thought that he was

never this. This guy ain't ever going to say

he ain't going to have him. There ain't no heaven in hell.

You know, there are people that were just kind of crazy.

They just kind of did some some outlandish things and they don't

mess. This guy is this guy is through,

you know, he's done. But then God starts working in

his heart and you see him again and it's like, Oh my God, what

happened? He speaks in a way that makes

sense. He's no longer doing things that

are crazy. He's dressed in a way that just

looks like he's civil. I mean, it just like what

happened. And we saw an example of that

when the demonics, you know, when, when Jesus went before the

demonics, the whole town looked at this guy.

They were afraid of him. They were afraid of him.

They didn't want to walk by him. But then when Jesus got a hold

to him, they saw him sitting beside Jesus and they couldn't

even believe it was the same person.

That's the glory of God and He's going to do do that with so many

people in that day. We are going to be the ones that

show glory. It's going to be in us.

We want to glory. He's going to be glorified in

us. So we believe with those who

reflect His glory and not those who have rejected His glory by

rejecting His Son Jesus Christ. In John 17, He says, you know,

yours are mine and mine are yours, and I am glorified in

them. Jesus said I am glorified in

them. And then he's going to be, you

know, then we're going to look at him and be marveled.

The Bible says that we're going to, you know, he's going to be

admired among all of those who believe.

We're going to look at him and be astonished and we're going to

be, we're going to marvel at his presence.

We're going to just marvel. We're going to be in awe of his

presence. Can you imagine just seeing him?

I can't wait to see him can't wait to see him can't wait to

see his face. We're going to marvel in his

presence. Now those who don't believe

they're going to be running from his presence.

He's going to marvel. We're going to marvel at his

presence. Then verses I'm about to finish

up here, verses 11 and 12, it says, therefore we also pray

always for you that our God would count you worthy of his

calling and fulfill all the goodness, all the good pleasure

of his goodness and the work of faith with power.

Let's just stop there for a second.

So the goodness of God is what they're talking about here.

Now he says you're going to be, you know, he says that you know,

God would count the I'm praying that God would count you worthy

of his calling. That means that God would

declare or decree you worthy of his calling, that God's power is

working in you and as a result of that you are going to be

counter considered, decreed, declared worthy of his calling

and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness.

Now the Bible talks in many places about walking worthy of

his calling. We can't do that on our own.

We can't do that on our own. We blow it, we blow it, but we

do know that God is able to make us worthy.

He's able to, He's able to work in us in a way that we will live

a life that's worthy of his calling and he says and fulfill.

All the good pleasure of His goodness.

And it's interesting when you look at the good pleasure of

his, of his goodness. It's not just doing good things.

It's not just doing good things, but it's doing good things with

a good motive, and that motive is pleasing the Lord Jesus

Christ, not pleasing a man, not trying to position yourself, not

trying to weaken someone by doing something good for them,

so you weaken them to an opportunity to take advantage of

them later. That's not what this is talking

about. This is talking about doing good

with good motives. It's good motives.

The meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth, OK, are

both pleasing to God. Not just me flattering you with

my word, trying to butter you up, to weaken you so that I can

take advantage of you, or so that I could be given a special

favor, or whatever it is that we may want to gain with our plan

to butter up or flatter. But this is actually living,

living it and having it in our hearts to do that which is good.

And again, that only comes through the Spirit.

We can't do that ourselves. That comes through the Spirit of

God. All this is a grace of God.

It goes back to the earlier, that earlier word of grace.

All this is a grace of God. To do good things is a grace of

God. And then, and then, then we, you

know, we finish up with this. The reason why verse 12 is that

the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified.

That's why he's praying that for them so that the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ would be glorified in them.

And you and him according to the grace of our God and the Lord

Jesus Christ. It's the grace of God that saves

us. It's the grace of God that keeps

us. It's the grace of God that

causes us to be able to stand under persecution.

It was the grace of God that caused this church to be able to

stand in the tough days. It's the grace of God.

And it's the grace of God that's holding us even now.

It holds us and it holds those who are not saved.

So I just want to say to those who are listening, and there's

someone here today that have not given their life to Christ.

You've thought about it, maybe you've heard things, saw things

that begin to pull at your heart.

And you said maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, maybe the next

day, maybe when I get older. I'm not quite ready yet,

brothers and sisters, we don't know when that last opportunity

comes. We don't know it may be within

the next 5-10, fifteen, 20 years, or it could be within the

next 5 minutes that we leave here and go to be with our Lord

Jesus Christ. We don't know.

People are leaving here every day and they're not all going to

be with the Lord. So I plead with you, I thank

you, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, Repent for your sin.

Repent. He is a good God.

He is willing and He is able to forgive you and to cleanse you

of everything you've ever done, make you new.

Repent today. Turn your heart to Him today.

Turn from that wicked way and trust Him for your salvation.

Do it today, don't wait till tomorrow, do it today.

He's ready and He's willing to receive you.

His arms are open wide. He's ready to receive you.

But there will be a day when it's going to be too late.

Let that not be today. Don't tell me, Don't test.

It you've been listening to Living Waters of Grace, he

wanted you to be aware that this message was given by Pastor

Lewis Harrell, an associate pastor serving alongside Pastor

Clark. Although you're familiar with

Pastor Clark being the voice of Living Waters of Grace, you'll

now have the opportunity to hear both pastors on this program.

Pastor Lewis is making his way through 1st and 2nd

Thessalonians. These books are a constant

reminder of the blessings that await faithful followers.

But this was often difficult for such young believers.

The Second Thessalonians 2-3 says let no one deceive you by

any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away

comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the Son of

perdition. When you choose to remain

faithful to God, the one who is always faithful to you, it comes

with its own reward. The new church in Thessalonica

was thriving, but Paul correctly saw the need to reinforce God's

steadfast love and identify him as a promise keeper.

Paul's second letter reads like a response to questions the new

church was struggling to answer. Living Waters of Grace is a

ministry out of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland, located in

Greensburg, PA. Are you in the area?

We would love to continue learning more about life in

Christ together with you. Stop in and see us this Sunday

morning at 10:30 AM. When you do, be sure to mention

that you heard us here. You'd love to hear the stories

of how God is using this program to reach people.

To find out more about the church and get our location,

head on over to calvarychapelonline.com.

Thanks for joining us today on Living Waters of Grace.