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2022 Thursday afternoon, August 4 blank camp service
121 Plays1 year ago
in this episode, you will hear the episode that was recorded on August 4 in the afternoon for a blanket services in the year, 2022.
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Introduction to Zencastr
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Here's one.
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Blind Camp Series Announcement
00:03:37
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it or your money back.
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So what are you waiting for, folks? Shop today and get yours today. That is all. Thank you for listening. Hey there, folks. On today's podcast we present
00:04:14
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The next episode of the Blind Camp series of 2022. This will be August 25th, Thursday afternoon, Blind Camp service. Enjoy. Brought to you by
00:04:47
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Gaining demos and other interests On Joseph Weekland's Harmonica Player Podcast
00:05:21
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So
00:05:35
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so
00:05:53
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. .
00:06:21
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you
00:07:03
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Well, as you know, Jesus is a wonderful Savior. And we've been experiencing that all day long. We might have forgot for a time or two, but it's still true. Number 335 is a song that says, what a wonderful Savior. And 335.
00:07:49
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price as for sin atonement made. What a wonderful Savior. We are redeemed. The price is paid. What a wonderful Savior.
00:08:13
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What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord.
00:08:37
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I praise him for the cleansing blood. What a wonderful Savior that reconciled my soul to God. What a wonderful Savior.
00:09:01
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What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord.
00:09:26
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He walks beside me all the way. What a wonderful Savior. That muted faithful day by day. What a wonderful Savior. What a wonderful Savior.
00:09:57
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Is Jesus my Jesus? What a wonderful Savior! Is Jesus my Lord?
00:10:16
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He gives me overcoming power. What a wonderful Savior!
00:10:29
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And triumphant it's trying our What a wonderful Savior! What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus!
00:10:54
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What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord. Okay, I wonder if anybody has something. Oh, my. What number came first? I don't know. I can't keep track of them. What's that?
00:11:24
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336, while we... Yeah, okay. There's a fountain. Fountain.
00:11:43
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There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's face. And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty states.
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Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains And sinners plunge beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains
00:12:35
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The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there, may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away.
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Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away.
00:13:27
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O dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power, till all the ransomed Church of God are safe to sin no more.
00:13:51
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Are safe to sin no more. Are safe to sin no more. Till on the vessel, Church of God, Are safe to sin no more.
00:14:18
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Here since my fate I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply Redeeming love has been my theme And shall be till I die
00:14:43
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And shout me till I die And shout me till I die Redeeming love has been my theme And shout me till I die
00:15:09
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Lord, I believe thou hast prepared a unworthy though I be. For me a blood-bought free reward, a golden harp for me.
00:15:35
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A golden harp for me. A golden harp for me. For me, a blood-blood-free reward. A golden harp for me.
00:16:01
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There in the nobler sweeter song I'll sing the power to say When this fourless pink stammering tongue is ransom from the grave
00:16:26
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is ransomed from the grave, is ransomed from the grave. When this poor, hitless, big, stambry tongue is ransomed from the grave,
00:17:25
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What song are you going to be? Why don't we do the one she's playing? That's 229.
00:17:42
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All right, it's unanimous, right?
00:17:56
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All hail the power of Jesus' name Let angels prostrate fall Bring forth the royal diadem And crown Him Lord of all
00:18:21
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Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown him Lord of all. Ye sin of Israel's chosen race, Ye ransomed of the fall,
00:18:47
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Hail him who saves you by his grace And crown him, Lord of all Hail him who saves you by his grace And crown him, Lord of all
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Let every kindred, every tribe, burn this terrestrial ball. To him all majesty ascribe, thank crown him Lord of all.
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To him, O Majesty, our scribe and crown him Lord of all. O that with yonder sacred throng we at his feet may fall.
00:20:07
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join in the everlasting song and crown near lord of all join in the ever
00:20:28
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And crown him Lord of all. I heard some other numbers that we didn't sing yet. Good. Well, I appreciate that.
00:21:16
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By Jesus I love thee, I know thou art mine. For thee, all the founties of sin I resign.
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I have a very poor memory so I'm glad you remember.
00:21:40
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My precious Redeemer, my Savior art thou. If ever I love thee, my Jesus dares.
00:22:05
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I love thee because thou hast first lovin' me and purchased my apartment on Calvary Street.
00:22:29
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I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus,
00:22:55
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I'll love thee and lie, I will love thee till death. And praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath.
00:23:19
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And say when the dead do lies cold on my brow, If ever I love thee, my Jesus does now.
00:23:44
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In mansions of glory and endless delight, I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright.
00:24:09
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I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus is now.
00:24:38
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Well, I think we can do this. Yeah, we got time to do this. Yeah. 329, is that it? 329. Take the world, but give me Jesus. That's a good plan. Excellent plan. We don't even have to wait till tomorrow to do it. We can do it now.
00:25:05
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Take the world, but give me Jesus All its joys are but a name But his love abideth ever Through eternal years the same O the height and depth of mercy
00:25:33
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O the length and breadth of love, O the fullness of redemption, pledge of endless life above. Take the world, but give me Jesus, sweetest comfort of my soul.
00:26:01
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With my Savior watching o'er me, I can sing the billows' roar. Oh, the height and depth of mercy. Oh, the length and breadth of love. Oh, the fullness of redemption.
00:26:29
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pledge of endless life above. Take the world, but give me Jesus. Let me view his constant smile. Then throughout my pilgrim journey, light will cheer me all the while.
00:26:57
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O'er the height and depth of mercy O'er the length and breadth of love O'er the fullness of redemption Pledge of endless life above Take the world
00:27:22
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but give me Jesus in his cross my trust shall be till with clearer brighter vision face to face my Lord I see oh the height and depth of mercy
00:27:49
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Oh, the length and breadth of love. Oh, the fullness of redemption, pledge of endless life above. We got plenty of time for at least one more, right? OK. What do you have, Kelly?
00:28:19
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How great thou art? 86. 86. OK, well, hope it hasn't moved very far. Yep.
00:28:46
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O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds my hands have made I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
00:29:09
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Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee. How great thou art, how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee.
00:29:39
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How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When through the woods and forest glades I wander,
00:29:56
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and hear the birds sing sweetly in the streets. When I look down from Woffkey Mountain grandeur and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze, then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee.
00:30:27
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How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my song, my Savior God to thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
00:30:51
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And when I think that God his son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died.
00:31:18
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to take away my sin. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee.
00:31:45
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How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When Christ shall come Wish out of acclamation And take me home What joy shall fill my heart
00:32:13
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Then I shall bow in humble adoration and their proclaim. My God, how great thou art. Then, saints, my soul, my Savior, God, to thee, how great thou art.
00:32:42
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I'll rid thou art, then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee. I'll rid thou art, I'll break thou art.
00:33:13
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532, our theme song 532
00:33:31
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Day by day and with each passing moment Strength I find to meet my trials here Trusting in my father's wise bestowmen I've no cause for worry or for fear
00:34:01
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He whose heart is kind beyond all measure, Gives unto each day what he deems best. Lovingly, it's part of pain and pleasure, Mingling tall with peace and rest,
00:34:32
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day the Lord himself is near me with a special mercy for each hour all my cares he feign would bear and cheer me he whose name is counselor and power
00:35:01
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The protection of his child and treasure is a charge that on himself he laid. As your days, your strength shall be in measure, this the pledge to me he made.
00:35:31
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Help me then in every tribulation, so to trust thy promises, O Lord, that I lose not face weak consolation offered me within thy holy word.
00:36:00
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Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting. Heir to take us from a father's hand. One by one, the day's the moment's fleeting. Till I reach my promise.
00:36:33
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We thank you, Lord, for the promise. We thank you for your grace in our lives. We pray that you'll bless and guide us tonight as we open your holy word that we can understand wonderful things from your word in Jesus' name. Amen. Welcome. It's good to see you. Good to have you here. Some of you were at blind camp, winter blind camp in Holly.
00:36:58
Speaker
a couple of years ago. And you may find some similarities in the message tonight to what I preached then because they're both about Enoch. But still there's some new stuff. Another announcement I need to make. There are several who have observed that David Hubble's not himself this week.
00:37:23
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And some of us know that he's virtually homeless. And that would be depressing to me.
00:37:31
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I lived in an RV for several months. I understand some aspects of that. So the request was that we have a special prayer for him after the service. Well, that will come. But that's after the service. Only those who want to stay by and have, and we're going to have anointing with that too. I have in my hand my anointing oil.
00:37:53
Speaker
Nice little beautiful wood vase that carries it. This is olive oil infused with frankincense, so it has a nice fragrance to it, and that's kind of special. I put that here, so we'll remember that.
The Life and Spiritual Journey of Enoch
00:38:12
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Getting into Enoch. Enoch, seventh from Adam, as it says in
00:38:20
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In Jude, this morning I was talking about him as the great, great, great grandson of Seth. He chose to serve the Lord. From his youth, he began to choose to serve the Lord. Special blessings come upon those of us who choose in our youth to serve the Lord. Now, it's never too late to give your heart to the Lord. While there's life, there's hope.
00:38:50
Speaker
And some of you have been praying for some people for decades. There's some people who really need to let the Lord into their life. Some have already done it in our daily inviting him. Matthew 5 verse 8 says, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. That promise was fulfilled in the life of Enoch.
00:39:16
Speaker
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. And that promise will be fulfilled in our lives as we allow God to purify our life. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Now, according to the story, and we touched on it this morning, Genesis chapter five, Enoch, the son of Jared, lived 65 years and he had a son naming him Methuselah.
00:39:45
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After he began Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So, verse 23, all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. What a story. It almost seems the way the Bible story is presented that having that son made a difference in his life.
00:40:14
Speaker
Well, I can tell you. Having a child made a difference in my life. And those of you who are parents, you know, there's a huge change that comes in your life. My wife and I talk of the time BC, that's before children in our life. We had eight years of married bliss before children, and then it's just gotten better. But there's a change.
00:40:45
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Before we had children, most of my pastoral visitation, she was at my side. After we had children, she often was staying home and caring for the kids, especially when she had four of them at home at once. There's quite a chore to care for children, whether you're at home or away from home, and it's harder away from home. You know what I'm talking about? Enoch allowed his
00:41:16
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parenting to help him connect with God. As he watched this child depend upon him, he learned how he could depend upon God. When you have a child holding your finger, learning to walk, it's a precious thrill, especially when they let go and go on their own for a few steps.
00:41:41
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He learned that he could trust God to have his finger there to hold on. He learned to depend on God as he learned watching his child depend on him.
00:41:53
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I was telling Tom in this little interview we had, there's a special blessing on us sighted guides when we let those blind people take our arm and they trust us. They trust us not to dump them on their face. They trust us to let them know when there's gonna be a step up or down. And it is so empowering to see this tender care provided
00:42:24
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is they trust us. What a guy. Back in point, and they forgive us when we do let him down. Hallelujah.
00:42:38
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We can learn about walking with God as we walk with each other. And the lesson is not just one-sided. It's not just that the blind are learning more about how to walk with God as they walk with their sighted guides. But we sighted guides are learning more about how we are supposed to be walking with God. Enoch learned experientially.
00:43:01
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He was a God fearr before, he was trusting and living for Jesus before, but something changed when he had a son. Now, there's another part of this that is just kind of hinted at in the Old Testament, but spelled out when you get to the passage in Jude. Enoch was a prophet. God spoke personal messages to Enoch.
00:43:31
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That's not always, well, it's not something you would seek for. There's a special blessing being a prophet, but there's also a heavy responsibility to be a prophet. But as a prophetic voice, Enoch knew what to name his son. Amen.
00:43:51
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Methuselah means when he dies, the end. So Enoch was a prophet of the end of the world. Now you say that the world didn't end then, for most people it did. When the flood came, there were only eight that were safe on the ark, four men and four women.
00:44:13
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Enoch had prophesied the end of the world as it was known, and I believe that things have been completely different since then. I don't know what all changed, but there's plenty of evidence in the geologic and fossil record things are different now. There was a time when things were different than they are now.
00:44:39
Speaker
If, as this doctor friend I referred to earlier, he's right that there was an envelope of moisture up above the atmosphere as we know it, that's gone. With the flood, the windows of heaven were open and the sky dumped the water and the floods came up. It was bad. Enoch prophesied that. He warned the people that
00:45:08
Speaker
They needed to get right with God or they would die in their sins. I think it's really any different today. We're facing the crisis of the end times. I learned my son-in-law called me and said, the flooding in Eastern Kentucky is the worst it's been in decades. He said, I need to go help.
00:45:32
Speaker
My son Robert is from Hazard, Kentucky, and he knows he's got contacts, and he says, I need to go help. So he's delaying his return to Laos by about a month so he can go down there and help clean up, get things together. I really haven't. I've been isolated here at camp, and I haven't heard the news. Maybe there's some lives lost, but I've been around these floods in eastern Kentucky enough to know
00:46:01
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There were houses that went downstream. There are homeless people from this. I didn't hear the stories directly, but I've heard enough stories to know that's what happens when it floods in eastern Kentucky. There's a mess. He says, I can go help. And I'm glad he can. Enoch recognized that he was at a pivotal point in world history and named his son so the people would know that they were living at a pivotal point.
00:46:30
Speaker
Methuselah died just weeks before the flood. Prophecy was fulfilled. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We'll talk about the flood next time. Lessons of dependence, trust, and unselfishness. Those are lessons a father can learn as they care for their sons and daughters. God's heart yearns for us to walk with him.
00:46:55
Speaker
Now Enoch had a walk with God, it named particularly for those 300 years after Methuselah was born, he had this walk with God. During that time he perfected his walk with God. Suppose you've got 300 years to do it in?
00:47:13
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There's two reasons you don't have that much time. We don't live that long. That's one reason. But I don't believe the world's going to last that long either. So what do we need to do about it? We need to be serious about our walk with God. Now, it's not as if Enoch wasn't serious. We need to be just as serious and we need to know that we do not have as long a timeline as he had. So we need to be
00:47:38
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earnest, serious, to connect with Him. Enoch was a preacher of righteousness in a godless age. Well, aren't we? We have to be sharing what righteousness is and we're living in a godless age.
00:47:57
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We have the same mission that Enoch had. Now, somehow Enoch found a balance, time commuting with God, time spent in nature, and time confronting sin. We need to figure out that balance. Don't think that you can just go out and attack the sin and the sinners in the world and straighten them all out. You can't do it in your strength.
00:48:22
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We need to have a Holy Spirit blessing in guiding our life, as did Enoch, so that his communion with the wicked was effective because his communion with God was so strong. I believe that his prayer time made visible changes in his visage. When people looked at Enoch, they could tell, he has spent time with God.
00:48:51
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Now we have the story with Moses, Exodus 34 verse 29, that after Moses had spent time with God, his face shone. Moses' face shone so much that the folks said to him, put a veil on it, put a cover on it, hang a sheet in front of your face so that we can stand to look at it because it glows as if it's the face of God and it's confronting us in our sin.
00:49:18
Speaker
Well, okay, that's what they had to do for Moses. I believe that similarly, Enoch's face shone with a holy light, and are you ready for this? I believe God wants to enter our life so fully and intimately that when people see us, they recognize our connection with God in our very visage. Too often, we have been too earthly focused.
00:49:47
Speaker
to see God. What is the priority in your life? Is it earning a living? Is it putting food on the table or is it walking with God? I believe Enoch found a way that whatever he was doing, he was walking with God. I love a story from a monk of
00:50:07
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hundreds of years ago, he was working in the garden, weeding the peas, and somebody came by and asked him, well, if you know Jesus was going to be coming tomorrow, what would you be doing? And he said, weeding the peas. If he knew Jesus was going to be coming in half an hour, what would you be doing? Weeding the peas. He knew that what he was doing was what God wanted him to be doing at this time, and he could trust.
00:50:33
Speaker
And may we learn to do our daily duties as unto the Lord and enter into communion with Him whether you're washing the dishes, making the beds, or weeding the peas. Every aspect of life can be communion with heaven. Now there are some other aspects in special times.
00:50:58
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Jesus exemplified the walk with God that we are to have. I think that's one of the reasons Jesus came was to show us how God wanted us to walk and what did Jesus do? Well, the daily communion time with God is repeatedly referenced. He got up a great time before day, went out and prayed.
00:51:21
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He spent all night in prayer. This communion time is precious, is essential. Just because you're at camp does not mean you can slack off on your communion time. You need to have that daily connection time with Jesus. Jesus also spent lots of time in nature. Much of his prayer time was out
00:51:48
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in the woods, by the stream, outside, and so can ours be. That's very appropriate. When Jesus was going from place to place, he was walking out in nature. He was able to see the landscape, the flowers, the trees,
00:52:13
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Jamie and I riding our bike home after we had gotten to Edmore this afternoon. A deer crossed the road in front of us. Oh, it's so exciting. You don't see this every day. Now, you don't want them too close, but it was far enough away. It was safe. See, it was good. Time and nature. Another thing we see Jesus doing was going about doing good deeds.
00:52:40
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He never left a good deed undone. When he saw a need, he just stepped up and took care of it. He dealt with what he saw. And we can. When you see a piece of litter, you can pick it up and throw it away. You can recognize the opportunities to do good deeds. If you see somebody wandering around the campus, not knowing where they're going, you can offer them help.
00:53:04
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Some of our blind friends have very much appreciated somebody that said, where are you trying to make it to? And, well, you need to turn left a little bit more. We give them guidance and they appreciate. Some of them want an elbow and some of them would rather just have some voice guidance. Okay, Jesus went about doing good. That was the pattern of Jesus' life and it should also be ours. And Jesus did counseling.
00:53:31
Speaker
People came to him with problems and he helped him with their problems. People came to him with arguments and he confronted their arguments. Jesus did his counseling so gracefully. He used scripture. That's a reason to memorize some scripture so that you have the verses to share when you need to share them.
00:53:52
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Yes, he confronted sin, but he did it so tactfully, particularly by using scripture as he helped people realize what they needed to do. So some key points in the walk. The walk with Jesus that Enoch had is the walk with Jesus that we want to have. So there's four points. I'm going to go through them quickly and then amplify them each a little bit. Do what God says, even if it doesn't make any sense. Remember our Grandma Eve?
00:54:22
Speaker
Why would God say I can't eat this fruit? Because it smells good, it looks good, it tastes good, it can't be poisonous. But God said you'll die if you eat it. And a few hundred years later she welcomed her.
00:54:40
Speaker
Believe what God says. It does not have to make sense. It does not have to match what you can see, what you can hear, what you can feel. If God said it, believe it. Let it be a part of your life. And God can change your nature so that you want to do what he says. He can help you overcome these natural tendencies to sin.
00:55:06
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the God who tells us what to do, he empowers us to do what's right. Second point is pray much. I mentioned the daily communion. I am beginning to understand that pray continually phrase that we find in Thessalonians means that be always aware that God is a part of your life.
00:55:28
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take him with you wherever you go, whatever you're doing, let him be a part of what you're doing. Commune with him in your daily experience. Confront sin. We're gonna amplify that soon enough, but gently and firmly confront sin. And the fourth one is joy in the Lord. So amplifying those four points.
00:55:55
Speaker
Start now. You can't start yesterday, that was before, that's in the past. But don't wait till tomorrow. Well, tomorrow I'm going to, no, no, when God says this is a way, walk ye in it, then now's the time to start walking in that way. When you hear a whisper of God to do something, then be prompted to obey. And if you hear a whisper of God to stop doing something, then in the fear of the Lord, stop doing it, be prompted to obey.
00:56:22
Speaker
Obedience, that's a key part of walking with the Lord. Amen. No matter how dear something may be, God says, do it, do it. Matthew 18 verses eight and nine speaks of amputating your hand or plucking out your eye if that is required for the glory of God. And some of you here, the doctor has pulled your eye out of your head because it was diseased and causing trouble.
00:56:54
Speaker
Pretty scary stuff. Those of us with two eyes are gassed to think of such things, but sometimes such things are necessary in the physical realm, and here we see it as being applied in the spiritual realm. One of the dear saints in the first church that I pastored in Kentucky, the Versailles Church. I know it looks like the French word for Versailles, but it's Versailles in Kentucky.
00:57:21
Speaker
Sister Saylor, Nellie Saylor. She's been dead a lot of years now. But she had diabetes. And when I first met her, she had both legs. But then within just a few years, they took one off just below the knee. And she hobbled around on one leg. Prosthesis or a walker or whatever was working, was working for a time. But then it wasn't very many years and the other leg came off just below the knee. And so her husband, Bird, had a lot of life care that he did.
00:57:52
Speaker
Now, the leg was amputated because it was causing trouble to her body system. To extend her life, the leg was cut off. Now, how much more true is this in our spiritual life, if there's something that's taking you away from Jesus, then make the choices.
00:58:12
Speaker
I told you before, I am so glad that we've never had a television in our home. I recognize that I am very drawn to that talking picture. And it has been a saving for me that I spend more time in the word than I would have if we had that machine in the house. Which leads me amply to this second point, the daily devotional time. That is so huge.
00:58:41
Speaker
commit a significant chunk of time to this devotional. Now, I know I've talked to some people who are working two jobs and it's hard for them to find out how to make two 15-minute time slots to give it to Jesus, but they always find time to eat. Well, spiritual food is more important than physical food.
00:59:04
Speaker
make sure you have that personal client time with Jesus. And those who are retired or on disability, I know some who are able to commit hours each day in communion. Hallelujah, what a blessing this is. Take advantage of that. Make those devotional minutes very productive. Prayer lists can help.
00:59:31
Speaker
Listen people that you're praying for so that you can remember who you want to be praying for and be reminded this good good your own personal prayer list Spent time in the word. God speaks to us in his word as we read this passage about Enoch
00:59:48
Speaker
He begotten Methuselah, and then he walked with God 300 years. We say, walk with God. What does that mean? How can I walk with God? Meditate on these and make them real in your life and allow God to speak to you. God wants to speak to you from his word.
01:00:05
Speaker
Journaling helps some, some people writing down or typing on the computer or talking into their computer. There's plenty of ways to journal, but whatever suits you is good, but it can be not a journal about this is my life, a journal about this is my spiritual life. God, I want you to be involved in my life, and we open ourselves to you. And journaling is a wonderful blessing for a lot of people.
01:00:32
Speaker
memorizing, I recommend this for everyone, memorize scripture. And I was so blessed as I heard stories of those who are choosing to memorize hymns. Most of the hymns are based on Bible verses and somebody meditated on that verse and wrote out this hymn and most of our hymns are prayers. So that's a good thing.
01:01:01
Speaker
Third point, God will make you aware of sin, confronting sin. As you're walking with God, as you're reading the word, as you're meditating on it, you are gonna see sin. You'll see sin in your own life. Well, that's probably the easiest to deal with because it's in your life and you just have to choose to let go of the sin. Whether it's a do or a don't, you can let go of the sin quickly, thoroughly,
01:01:28
Speaker
only in God's strength can we let go of it some things are so near and dear to us we've been massaging this sin for decades and we have to say God I can't give it up but I give you permission to take it away and he's got a thousand ways to take it away that you don't know about yet trust him he can he can sideswipe that sin right out of your life when you give him permission give him permission but
01:01:55
Speaker
What about it when you see the sin in somebody else's life? Now he can get even more correct. When you see sin in somebody else's life, be very gentle, but be bold. It's not something to be ignored. God has brought an awareness to you of a sin in somebody's life. You have a responsibility now. In prayer and in the fear of the Lord,
01:02:22
Speaker
The first step is, as it says in Matthew seven, three to five, take that beam out of your own eye first. Most of the time, the sins that we are quickest to see in someone else's life, we've got a cousin in our life.
01:02:42
Speaker
And so when you see a sin, first thing to do is to get on your knees and say, Lord, I repent of that sin. You may not have even been ready to admit that you have the sin, but say, Lord, I recognize that somebody's got a problem. And by the grace of God, if it
01:03:02
Speaker
If it wasn't but your grace, I would be doing that very thing because part of our reason for noticing their sin is because we covetiously wish we could be participating in that sin. We say, God, heal me. Confess the sin and repent of the sin as if it were your own. Read Daniel chapter nine. There's no verse in scripture that talks about a sin that Daniel committed.
01:03:31
Speaker
But yet Daniel in chapter nine confesses the sin of his people as if it were his own sin. That's the first step in the confronting of sin in somebody else's life. You may have studied this and understand the children of alcoholics often are not alcoholics, but rather workaholics.
01:03:55
Speaker
or have sexual addictions or other addictions. These addictions tend to move from father to son or mother to daughter. They're in the family and they just change their expression, but they're still an addiction. When you see sin, go to God in repentance first.
01:04:19
Speaker
And oftentimes, you allowing God to change your life will have an influence on your loved one's life without you saying a word. So you may not have to say something, but then again, you may. God will give you the words. He'll give you the timing. Timing is huge, not merely what we say, but how we say it and when we say it.
01:04:47
Speaker
Only when we have humbled ourselves before God are we safe to speak to another person about their sin. Only in humility, tears were in Jesus' voice as he confronted sin in the people around him. We dare do no less. The person whose sin we're confronting needs to know that we love them. We're not attacking them. We care. We're speaking about their sins because we want them in the kingdom.
01:05:16
Speaker
Fourth point, last point, joy in the Lord. Spend time in God's great book of nature, joy in the Lord. Forest bathing is something that has begun to be prescribed around the world.
Benefits of Forest Bathing
01:05:29
Speaker
It started in Japan. But that's simply spending half an hour sitting out under the trees and meditating, letting God speak to you. If you do it where there's some running water, it's even better. There's scientific evidence on this stuff.
01:05:47
Speaker
Live your life recognizing that you're living in the presence of God, because you are. And if you walk with that awareness, it will change who you are from the inside out. This will make a difference for people. You will have a peace and a happiness that is expressed in you. Put a smile on your face. Deliberately wear a smile that will make you happier. It will improve your mood. It will also improve your appearance.
01:06:18
Speaker
The simplest thing you can do to make yourself look prettier is to put a smile on your face. It doesn't have to be a big crazy grin, but those upturned lips look so much better than the glum expression that is so common in our life. God wants to change us from the inside out so that we reflect His grace, and it is a happy grace. Our lives are lives of joy and peace when we're living with Jesus.
01:06:48
Speaker
And your character, shining from your life, will draw people, not to you, but to Jesus. And that's what we're all about, is drawing people to Jesus. I believe that's what Enoch did. Enoch's life was not an easy life, and I can't say yours is going to be easy either.
01:07:10
Speaker
but by the grace of God it will be successful, it will be joyful, it will be a pleasant experience. Walking into the kingdom as did Enoch. I believe some of us will be alive to be translated without seeing death. We will have an experience very similar to that of Enoch, walking into the kingdom, walking with God here and walking with God there without dying. Now, there's no special merit in that, but it's special and it's really not about me,
01:07:39
Speaker
It's about him. And so I made peace with this. I have given God permission. If it will bring more glory to you for me to go the underground route, for me to die before I see your face, I'm at peace with that. I really, really think it's so exciting to read about Enoch and say, there's a possibility that we can be the generation that walks into the kingdom, as did Enoch.
01:08:04
Speaker
But that's not what it's all about. It's the glory of God. It's not the glory of me. It's the glory of God. And if my life has lived for him, it'll all come out right. Let's pray a prayer of dedication. Gracious Lord, as we contemplate the story of Enoch, we're drawn to desire a oneness with you that he had. We know that you desire to have that oneness with us, too.
01:08:30
Speaker
We have to let you clean our lives up. We have to let you straighten us out so that we can walk with you. Lord, we plead with you. Glorify yourself in our lives. Let us be songs of praise for Jesus now and through eternity for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
01:08:51
Speaker
Larry usually has some announcements. After he dismisses you, we'll have that special prayer time. So only those who want to stay by are asked to stay by for that special prayer. Thank you, Pastor. Appreciate it very much. We probably want to pray during that
01:12:30
Speaker
Well, this completes the podcast. Done bye.